Mass Effect - Arrival
by zzchase
Summary: More traditional S.I. type of story, where the character has an actual back story and reasons on why he has skills and abilities to go toe to toe with an N7. This is a second story I'm writing, first one is more of an AU where this sticks to the games, constructive criticism always welcome, enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Eden Prime

Jan. 18, 2182

So here I am, on a shuttle towards Eden Prime. It's currently January 18, 2182. Yeah, that year. Who am I you ask? The names Chase Coates, I know, odd right? Well, when I woke up in this hell hole of a universe, I had no memory. Yeah, nada. I was in some body, but not mine. I knew about the Mass Effect universe, and I knew where and when I from, but I don't remember me. The name's all I could think of when I got questioned about it, it happened to be the brand of my jacket. I woke up on an Alliance ship, coming from Mindoir apparently, and I had to come up with a name. I was 21 then, and time has flown.

I immediately joined the Alliance, went into the Marines, eventually becoming a Marine Recon Specialist within a year. I even worked with Kaiden, he was leading a security detail for some dig site, didn't end too well, was the reason that I had to get out as well, but that's a long story that's in the past. Lots of action in Recon, got pretty good at it, if you don't mind me tooting my own horn. I was in for 8 years, then became a freelance Mercenary for the past three years. I was clean, for the most part, even did quite a few jobs for the Alliance. I may or may not take assassination jobs on bad people who had it coming, just saying. Just got a job on Eden Prime, working as private security for some business man, pay's crap and I'm way over qualified, but the location is golden. Hopefully the geth attack soon, and I cannot believe I just thought that.

"Refreshments, sir?" some stewardess asked me nervously, and I just shook my head no. I know that I look like a merc, and people treat me as such, but they can't tell the difference between the good ones and the bad ones. Not that there's a lot of good ones. Not to mention the hoops I had to jump through to be able to work legally in Citadel and Alliance space. All that hard work, just to be looked down on.

April 19, 2182

I woke up to another beautiful morning, just outside my boss's compound. I look outside my window and see, oh, it's Nazara, far in the distance. What the FUCK! How the hell did I sleep through that, I know I'm a heavy sleeper, but damn! Suddenly Geth drop ships descend around him, shooting down what little the Alliance has for defenses. So, he just got here, thank god I didn't sleep through this. I immediately go and arm up, grabbing my rifle, pistol, and sword. Looking in the mirror, I can't help but love looking how badass I am. I have Medium titan armor, jet black, with a custom helmet that has those two glowing green eyes, like mercs in the second and third game, with a skull painted around it. Bad-mutherfuckin-ass.

My omnitool pinged, and see my boss calling me. "What's up?"

"What's up? We're under attack. I've locked the compound down, kill anyone who comes close." He said, "Anyone"

"Yeah, I'm going to have to pass on that, I need access to the garage"

"What?" he responded

"We're being invaded genius, I'm going to see if I can help, but it's a two-hour hike, where are the keys?" I said non-chalantly as I walked towards his garage

"Forget it nut job, your fired, you can walk" he yelled, closing the channel. That hurt my feelings. Too bad I can't hack for shit, or I'd steal it. Damn, two-hour hike, time to stretch my legs. I might as well start running.

About half way through I can really feel this run, I need to work on my cardio. I finally reach the outskirts of the colony, about two hours later, fortunately I'm on the side with the dig site. I dispatched a few patrols of Geth, nothing too difficult when your sniping them from afar, also most of the fighting's over now. I start making my way around, sticking to the hills and small valleys in this part of the colony. Suddenly I heard a loud roar coming from the sky, and I see the Normandy sweeping in and going about 200 meters behind from where I am. I take a quick look around, and see a good vantage point that I could help with Ashley when she comes running around the corner. Looking around, I spot Nihlus up on the hill, bypassing a bunch of Geth and the original dig site, moving north. He moves fast! I look down and see Ashley run around the corner, firing shots at a few drones from behind her. She takes them out, going into cover, then about 4 Geth come around the corner, along with 4 shock troopers. Huh, that's more than I remember.

Shots start coming from my right, and I see Kaiden and Shepard decide to introduce themselves, running up to Ashley and taking up positions next to her, taking out about half with biotics and gunplay, bad idea. They're stuck now, with two shock and regular troops left, giving them constant barrage, with a boulder slowly chipping away for cover, unable to return fire. The Geth have heat clips, so they won't get a chance to return fire.

I line up my rifle, and take two shots, dropping a shock trooper. I line up another, they started looking around for me, and drop him with two more shots. Adjusting, I see the two regular troopers have spotted me, I put one in my sights, dropping one in one shot, and my sniper over heated. Fortunately, Shepard had the good sense to come out of cover and help. I get up from my prone position, and slide down the side of the cliff I was on, making my way over to the three musketeers.

"Thanks for the assist" Shepard said, nodding to me.

"Happy to help" I said

"What's a merc doing on Eden Prime?" Ashley asked, incredulously

"Apparently saving your ass" I said towards Ashley, "But on a serious note, I was working private security for Baron James" I said, pointing towards his complex in the far distance, "saw an invasion, and that thing, so I started heading here"

"I'm Commander Shepard, Lt. Alenko, Gunnery Sgt. Williams, you are?" she asked

I go and slowly pull off my helmet, wiping off the massive amount of sweat on my head, "Coates?" Alenko asked, guiltiest look on his face, and Shepard just gave him a questioning look.

"Apparently they just let anyone on important missions" I muttered towards Kaiden, turning my attention towards Shepard, "Chase Coates. Look, I'd love to stay and chat, but you have a beacon to find, and I have a Turian to track"

"How do you know about the Beacon?"

"It's a small colony, word gets around. And I doubt that they'd send an N7 for anything else" I replied

"Fair enough, what Turian?" she followed up

"A Turian I've been trying to track and get a good shot at, but he's paranoid, moves quick, never staying in one spot"

"That's Nihlus, he's with us" Kaiden interrupted, getting a glare from Shepard.

"Your friend Nihlus got a robotic arm, messed up face, and cybernetic eyes? Also, does he always order Geth around, or is It just a hobbie?"

"No, no that's not him" Shepard said

"Look, we're wasting time here. Why don't we work together to finish our goals?" I suggested, and she just looked over towards Alenko.

"Well, I trust him enough to not shoot me in the back" Kaiden said, and I couldn't help but start laughing.

"Yeah, that's more like your style" I said, putting my helmet on, I couldn't help but notice an exchange of looks between them, and we started making our way down, working our way through the dig site, moving over towards the small encampment of scientists.

"So, come here often?" I asked towards Shepard

"You know, it's not my first time" she replied with a smirk, "Williams, Alenko, take point up towards the camp". Turns out ole Jane's just a soldier, not that I'm complaining. But with her armor, and the big ass shotgun, I thought she'd be in the front.

"Don't trust me at all?" I asked, getting her to snap towards me, "you're obviously geared out, and probably specialized, based on your gear, for close combat. And while I know I have a certain level of attraction towards the ladies, I must admit I doubt that's going through your head right about now" I deadpanned towards her, and she just cracked up

"You're funny Chase, but to be honest, I don't trust you, and it seems you have history with Alenko, care to share?" she asked, as we started walking up the ramp

"You know what? Get me a drink, and I'll fill you in with whatever you want"

"Deal" she responded, as we were finishing up our small trek

"You're thinking about me now though, right?" I asked, and I could've sworn that I saw a blush, until she Gibbs slapped me, and I thought I was going to pass out. Fuckin bionic arm. We finally reach the top of the hill, feel's like a lot bigger in-life. As soon as we got there the dragons teeth started dropping husks.

"My god, they're still alive!" Ashley yelled

"No, they're not. Take them out." Shepard yelled, and I scoped down the rifle, taking one down that got a little too close to Ashley, and soon they're all dead.

"What did they do to them?" Ashley asked

"What ever they did, they're not human anymore" I muttered, "looks like the camp's vacant"

"Kaiden, Williams, go ahead clear the buildings, we'll keep watch" she ordered, and did as they were told

"I knew it, you're in love with me" I stated

"Keep dreaming" she responded, "So, you're a decent shot, where'd you learn?"

"Decent?" I questioned, "Please, I'm decent when I'm blind folded. I'm amazing. And I was a recon marine for seven years"

"I see you're very modest" she mentioned, "I figured your former Alliance, but why merc?"

"Short story, I don't have friends or family, all I had was the Alliance. Was kind of forced out, and all I knew was how to fight. Became a merc, did a lot of jobs, most of them were actually for the Alliance, took a job here, end story"

"Looking forward to the long story"

"Well, now you owe me a drink" I muttered, and she just smirked

"All clear commander" Alenko stated. What? That shouldn't be right.

"Alright, let's move out" Shepard said

"Look at the size of that thing!" Ashley yelled, as the dreadnaught made its copyrighted sound as it started leaving the planet

"Its mass effect core must be massive, that things the size of a dreadnaught!" Kaiden mentioned

"We should keep moving" Shepard said, moving towards the tram

"That can't be good" I stated, getting a questioning look from Shepard, "If it's leaving, that means that they finished" and Shepard just nodded

"Double time it!" Shepard yelled, and we started down the hill, running into some more Geth resistance.

"Alenko!" I yelled, getting his attention, "Barrel against far wall", and he threw a singularity, floating it up and towards the largest group of Geth, and it suddenly exploded from a shot coming out of Shepard's rifle. "Thief!" I yelled. I made my way up toward a boulder in order to take some fire off of Williams and Kaiden, immediately feeling a burning sensation through my right shoulder, dropping my sniper. "Sniper, top of the shed!" I yelled, going to pick up my sniper with my arm, immediately dropping it from the pain.

"All clear!" I heard Williams yell, stowing my sniper with my left arm.

"You good?" Shepard asked

"Yeah, I'll walk it off" I said, applying medigel to my wound, love this stuff. I go ahead and take point, walking into the tram station, immediately spotting Nihlus on the floor. There's also a port-a-pottie, didn't know that was a thing. Guess I'm not surprised we didn't hear any gun shots though, Saren was probably on Nazara, and it just took off.

"Damn" Williams said, "Is this your Turian friend?"

"Yeah, it was" Shepard said, kneeling down

"Shot like that, sniper?" Kaiden asked, eyeing me

"No, based on the exit, probably a heavily modified pistol" I muttered

"We should get moving, we need to get to that beacon. I don't think we'll figure out what happened here" Ashley said, and Shepard nodded at that. I couldn't help but take a small peak over the crates, and see the cowering idiot behind there.

"Let's go then" Shepard said, starting to walk away

"Why don't we ask that guy?" I asked pointing behind the crate. All I got was confused looks from the three of them. I stretch my arm over, grab the guy, pulling him over the crate, throwing him onto the ground.

"Hello" he stuttered, and that's when I started tuning out this conservation, it just followed exactly like the game. Nice turn of events, because a lot of things are different. Nothing big, but still.

"Saren?" I heard Shepard questioned, and that's my que to listen

"We should head out" I heard Kaiden mutter

"You're right" Shepard responded

"Alright, give me those grenades you've been smuggling" I said aloud

"How the hell did you know- I mean I don't know what you're talking about" he yelled

I pull out my sword, laying it onto his shoulder. "Let's not play around, I know that you're a smuggler" I said ominously, and he unwillingly gave me the grenades. I grabbed him, and dragged him into the port-a-pottie.

"What are you doing?" he yelled

"Keeping you safe, they won't look in here for you" I said, closing the door, breaking the handle. "Care to do the honors?" I asked towards Ashley, she just grinned while Shepard and Kaiden looked confused. She lowered her shoulder, and rammed into it, knocking it onto the side, you could hear him screaming from inside. Shepard just shook her head, tapping away something on her omnitool.

"Thanks" she muttered

"Let's go" Shepard ordered, and now we finally started moving towards the tram, making quick work of the Geth. "So, whats with the-" Shepard got interrupted as we made it onto the tram, and a Geth prime started sprinting towards us. Shepard dived into cover, but Kaiden and Williams froze, I pushed Williams out of the way, grabbed Kaiden's shotgun, then kicked him out of the way, and started unloading onto the prime, taking down its shields. Unfortunately, it smacked me with it's giant robot arm, slamming me into some barrier behind Shepard. Was about the strength of Shepard's slap. The focus fire from the three of them made it kick the bucket.

"You alright?" Shepard asked as rounds where pinging around us

"Probably a few broken ribs, but you smack harder" I deadpanned, picking myself up while applying medigel, and we made quick work of the Geth left on the tram. "Why am I the only one getting hurt?" I asked aloud

"Maybe you're just prone towards it" Ashley deadpanned

"Yeah, next time I won't save your asses" I said, as we reached the end of the rails, coming into the space port. Exiting the tram, we immediately run into the bombs. "I don't do bombs" I said.

"Kaiden, you defuse the bombs, we'll deal with the Geth" she muttered, and we made our way up the stairs, engaging the Geth. "Chase, you good?" she asked in the middle of the fire fight.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm still a good shot with my left arm, but your concern for me is noted" I said, and she just smirked, and between the three of us, we made quick work of the remaining Geth. "Those bombs dealt with?" I asked towards Kaiden, getting a nod from him.

"The beacon should be on the other side" Ashley said, taking point for us. We made it over to the beacon, oddly no husks, and Kaiden called the Normandy.

"You where asking me a question earlier?" I said to Shepard

"Was just curious as to why green for the eyes?"

"It's my favorite color" I said, and noticed Ashley started getting close to the Beacon, and started getting sucked in, and Shepard hasn't noticed.

"Shit!" I yelled, running over to Ashley, grabbing her and throwing her out of the way. I could feel myself getting pulled in, and someone grabbed me from behind. I look and see Shepard, trying to pull me away, but we both got pulled up into the field, raising us up, and images were getting poured into my head. Then it all went blank, and I was just staring at the beacon, and a massive flash came over me, and I could feel myself flying backwards.

My eyes shoot open and I can see a metal roof above me, I pull myself up and see the doctor over at her terminal typing away, Shepard on the slab next to me, still out cold. Kaiden sitting next to her, creepy.

"How long was I out?" I asked, attempting to get up, but wincing at the pain from my shoulder

"How are you feeling?" she asked, coming over to me, scanning me

"Well, I'll live" I said, feeling relieved after she gave me some pain relievers, "Thanks. And you are?"

"Dr. Chakwas"

"Where am I?" I asked, feigning ignorance

"The Normandy, under the command of Captain Anderson"

"David?" I asked, getting a surprised look from both the doctor and Kaiden, "old bastard hasn't kicked the bucket yet?"

"No, I haven't" he said walking in, giving me a handshake

"Ah, well. Lost that bet." I deadpanned back at him. "I knew you where being reassigned, didn't know they were giving you a ship"

"You two know each other?" Kaiden asked, interrupting my conversation with an old colleague

"Yeah" I responded, "he was my contact for when the Alliance wanted a hit job, or really any job" I said, getting a glare from Anderson, "Oh, was that classified?"

"Yes" he responded, "it was"

"How long was I out?" I asked

"About 12 hours" Anderson responded

"Well, I'd hate to be a burden, but I'm hungry" I said, getting off the bed

"Well, I'll join you. We need to debrief anyways" Anderson responded, and we started making our way out that evil room called the Med bay. Nothing personal, just usually not a good thing if you're in there. I try to avoid it if I can.

"Doctor, I think she's waking up!" Kaiden said, and the doctor came over to check it out the moaning coming from her bed.

"Perhaps another time David" I said as I walked out the door, seeing Ashley standing there, nervously. I start walking over and see her stealing glances at me.

"Hey gunny, what's with the look?" I asked, knowing the answer

"It's just, it's my fault what happened to the two of you" she said, looking down.

"What are you, stupid?" I asked, getting a surprised look from her, "you had no way of knowing, don't blame yourself for what happened, it'll just eat at you"

"Thanks"

"That goes for what happened to your men down there too" I responded

"What, I-"

"Listen here" I started, "you had no way to know that the Geth, for which we don't have proper defenses or ways to fight, would attack. There was no other outcome to this, what happened wasn't your fault, they would've died anyways. Your alive, avenge them."

"Umm, thanks? I'm sorry, didn't think I'd get this talk from a merc."

"Yeah, insult me right after helping you, makes sense"

"What?" she responded, "No, that's-"

"Okay" I said, putting up my hand to interrupt her, "I'm use to that kind of treatment, I'll talk to you later, I need to grab some grub" and I walked away, moving towards the kitchen. Already I can see the layout of the ship, while extremely similar, is different.

"This is food?" I whispered to myself as I ate, my god, billions of credits, and they can't get decent food. I notice Dr. Chakwas and Kaiden leaving the Med bay, must be the talk between Shepard and Anderson, glad I'm not there. Boring! I'd rather eat this slop, it's not too bad with enough pepper and hot sauce. As soon as I finish my meal I decide to give myself a tour of the ship. Off the bat, next to Kaiden's little terminal is a kitchen serving area for the crew. Sleeper pods and captain's quarters are in the same spot as well. I make my way to the elevator, and couldn't help but notice that there's four options. /Communications room, Deck/Medbay/Galley, deck/GYM/Shooting Range, Bay/Engineering. An entire crew deck! Plus, the elevator goes to the top floor, and the stairs still exist, that does seem more realistic.

Going down to the crew deck, you see it's pretty open on the right, containing the gym and shooting range, in the middle is a small lounging area with and entertainment system, and on the left are a bunch of private cabins. Apparently, officers and/or ground crew gets their own room, no complaints here. The room is completely vacant, not a soul here. Most likely because they left with a bone stock crew. It is a nice couch, would be great for naps. I think I'm going, no, I am going to take a nap, we're hours away from the citadel, I deserve this.

"Wake up" I felt a quick shrug, immediately reaching for my non-existent pistol.

"Shepard" I said, nodding towards her, "How long was I out?"

"Well, I woke up about thirty minutes ago…" she said, sitting on the other side of the couch

"Sweet, ten whole minutes" I muttered, "Any reason you interrupted my power nap?"

"Yeah, few things, here" she threw a data pad at me

"And this is?" I asked, looking at the data pad

"That drink I owe you"

"Really?" I asked, realizing what I'm looking at. It's a file that the Alliance keeps on me, awesome. "They classify me as Hyper-lethal?"

"Yeah, turns out that you were recommended for ICT multiple times by your commanding officers, however the board that decides on who enters stonewalled you for some unknown reason" she said

"Wow, this is best present I've ever been given. Does David know that you did this?" I asked

"Yes, and that's the other thing, I'm here to debrief you" she said

"Any chance this doesn't involve me dealing with politicians or the council?" I asked, and she just smirked at me, "Yeah that's what I thought, looks like I'll be around for a while, but once this is over, I'm going after him, I'ma put a round through his ugly glowing eyes"

"Oh?" she started, "and if I'm the one going after him?"

"The council will either say that my testimony is useless, or it's his word against mine"

"We're going after him, and I will get the councils backing" she responded

"I see you're very modest" I responded, and that got a laugh

"Touché Coates, Touché"

"Well then, I'm really going to be around for a while" I said, "Any chance you had a crazy dream about synthetics killing a bunch of organics?"

"You saw it too?!" she asked, "I half thought I was crazy. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Cause I thought I was crazy, and didn't want to make people think I'm crazy"

"And thank you, I don't think we would've made it out. You helped, three times" she said

"Don't mention it, how long until we got to the citadel?"

"We got two hours" she said standing up, "care for a tour?"

"Yes, I would"


	2. Chapter 2

The Council

"Fuck!" I whispered to myself, waking up from my nap in a sweat from that damn nightmare. Bioware did not do the vision justice at all. Checking the time, I see I got thirty minutes of sleep, so we should be at the citadel in an hour, plus the time it takes to dock. I decide to go ahead and take a quick workout, sticking to working on cardio, my arm's still sore from that shot through my shoulder.

"Hey!" I look over to see Ashley, nearly giving me a heart attack, got way too entrenched in my workout.

"Yo, what's up?" I asked, continuing my jog, "I thought you'd be relaxing"

"I could say the same about you"

"Okay" I said, "I take it that you wanted to ask me some questions?"

"Is it that obvious?" she asked

"Nope" I deadpanned, "Did Shepard send you?"

"No, I just wanted ask you a question about Alenko" and I just sighed

"Look, what happened between me and Kaiden was a long time ago and in the past, and I'm over it"

"Didn't seem like that on Eden Prime"

"Yeah, some old feelings boiled over. But I'm over it, you can go ahead and let Shepard know" I muttered

"She didn't send me"

"Then why are you here asking about it?" I asked, and she got squirmy

"No reason"

"You got a crush on him?"

"I'll see you when we get there" she muttered, walking away. Interesting, she's worried about Kaiden, who follows Shepard like a puppy. That's going to end well.

 **-Two hours later-**

"This is an outrage! If these were Turian colonies, there'd be a fleet!" Udina yelled

"Turians don't found colonies on the edge of the Terminus Systems, Ambassador" the Turian councilor replied

"This conversation is over. We'll discuss this and the findings of the investigation at the meeting, Good day Ambassador" The Asari councilor said, ending the call

"That ended well" I muttered, catching the eye of Udina

"I see you've brought your entire crew Anderson"

"Just the ground team, and our tagalong"

"Yes" he went on, "the man who does the dirty work for the Alliance, such a reliable person"

"More reliable than you" I deadpanned

"I am the Am-"

"I don't care" I interrupted him, getting slap to the head from Shepard "Fuck!"

"This outcome is horrible, the beacon being destroyed is putting your candidacy for the Spectres in jeopardy", and I just put the best surprised face on for what Udina just said, and Shepard just smirked

"I did nothing wrong" Shepard demanded, "The council has to see that"

"We'll make them see it" Anderson butted in

"Y'all are a little too positive" I whispered to myself, only Shepard hearing it

"Anyways, I'll get you all access to the tower, including your dog" Udina said, walking over to his console

"No need, I already have clearance to go up there" I said, getting a few looks from everyone, and a glare from Udina

"I see, we'll meet you all there" he said, looking at his door, and we all walked out.

"That went pretty good" I said, meaning every word

"Excuse me?" Shepard asked, clearly not happy

"I don't do well with politicians, that was good for me" I said, and we started walking, making it out of the embassy. "I'll meet you guys at the Tower elevator, I need to go see my banker"

"For what?" Kaiden asked

"Everything I owned was on Eden Prime, and I'm pretty sure my ex-boss burned it all by now, need to pull out some credits"

"We shouldn't split up" Shepard said, crossing her arms

"I'll be fine" I said, waving at her and walking away, making my way towards the Financial district. Getting there, I walk into his office, and immediately get greeted by him.

"Welcome Earth-clan", "Ah, Mr. Coates, how're you today?"

"Barla" I said with a nod, "My money please"

"Of course," he said, pulling out a chit, "I must wonder what you did to get such large, and frequent payments from the Shadow Broker" he questioned, pulling the Chit closer to his chest

"I bet you do, and would you like to know what happens to the agents who ask that question, keeping me from my money?" I paused for dramatic effect, "I'll give you a hint, you won't find them, turns out the Shadow Broker can be very vindictive" and I could here the gulp through his suit, and he handed me the chit. "Good choice"

I put the Chit onto my omnitool, transferring the money to my account. I walk out, make a quick stop at a coffee shop for some hot chocolate, and make my way to the Towers entrance.

"Shepard" I said, getting her attention. "Where's Williams and Alenko?"

"Williams saw someone she knew, went to say 'Hi'. I sent Alenko with her, that's them coming" she nodded, and I could see them about 150 meters away.

"Oh? You didn't feel that I needed a buddy to go with me, keep me safe?"

"You almost never let your guard down, so if Saren sent people after us, you'd be ready. Ashley on the other hand…"

"Good point, and there's something I need to tell you" I said, getting a concerned look from her, "I kind of had a run in with the council before"

"Explain, now" she said ominously

"I was dating this girl, her name was Tela, and she happened to be a spectre" I put my had up to stop her from interrupting, "she recommended me for the spectres, I thought it was funny and a joke, but it turned serious, got me a meeting with them. It did not end well, also, breaking up with an Asari who can kill you with her mind is terrifying"

"I don't even know where to start"

"Break up over long distance, especially if they have anger issues" I deadpanned, "Say nothing to anyone, I'm only telling you because I don't trust anyone with this information, and thought you should know in case it comes up"

"Asari?"

"I don't discriminate, is that what you're getting from this" I questioned, "Why are you so interested, interested in Asari?"

"Not my type" she answered quickly, turning to wave at the two

"You're avoiding the topic"

"What're you guys talking about?" Kaiden asked

"Nothing" Shepard replied

"Her love life" I said, getting a slap on the back of my head, I think I'm starting to develop an immunity to it, it didn't hurt as much. We finally take the elevator up to the council chambers.

"I need more time!"

"There is no more time, your investigation is over"

"Stall the council"

"Stall the council? Are you insane?" he said, walking away.

"I take it you're investigating Saren?" I asked

"What? Yes. That must make you" he looked at Shepard, "Commander Shepard, Detective Garrus Vakarian" he nodded

"Based on that talk, your investigation didn't go too well" Shepard mentioned

"If I had a little more time, but everything he touches is classified"

"Why do you want to take down Saren? He's a Turian" Ashley asked

"Yes, because cops wanting to hunt murderers is only a Human thing" I deadpanned

"Sarens dirty, I know it, if only I had more time. Well, good luck, maybe you can convince the council" he said, walking away, and we make our way to the council's chambers.

"The Geth attack is the matter of some concern, but there is nothing to indicate Saren way involved in any way" Councilor Tevos started

"The investigation by Citadel security turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason" Sparatus threw in

"We have two eyewitnesses of him, one seeing the murder himself!" Udina claimed

"We've read the Eden Prime reports ambassador; the testimony of a traumatized dock worker is hardly enough. And on the matter of the other witness, a mercenary-"

"Private Military Contractor" I interrupted the Salarian

"The eye witness testimony of Mr. Coates is not sufficient for us" he finished

"And I resent these accusations, Nihlus was my friend, and a fellow spectre" Saren said, looking creepy as hell

"That just let you catch him off guard" Anderson accused

"No, David" I whispered to myself, Shepard and Ashley giving me a look

"Of course, Captain Anderson, like usual your involved when humanity makes up false charges against me, and that must make her Commander Shepard, I hear we have you to blame for the destruction for the beacon" Saren said

"Oh, that? That was me, I reacted too slowly to stop it before it was too late, sorry?" I said with a smile

"Okay?" Shepard said to me, "That mission was top secret, how could you have known that, unless you were there"

"I'm a Spectre Commander, I have a key to top secret, and I just read the report, I was unimpressed. But what can you expect from a human?"

"You despise Humans, that's why he attacked Eden Prime" I claimed

"Your species is young, and needs to know its place, Mr. Boats? Humanity isn't ready for the council, let alone the spectres!"

"He has no right to say that, that's not his decision!" Udina argued

"And its Coates damn it!" I yelled, giving Saren the bird

"Shepards admission into the spectres in not the purpose of this meeting" Tevos interjected

"This meeting has no purpose, they're just wasting our time"

"You can't hide behind the council forever" Shepard threatened

"And there's still one outstanding issue" Anderson spoke up

"Don't tell me I have to defend myself against dreams, that they claim two people had. This is a joke!" Saren exclaimed

"Saren's right, our decision must be based on hard evidence, not dreams, or visions you claim it to be" Sparatus pointed out

"Anything else Commander Shepard?" Valern asked

"No, I won't waste my breath" Shepard responded

"The council has found no evidence of treason, this meeting is adjourned" Tevos said, hitting a button on her console

"Hey Saren!" I said, getting his attention before he disconnected, "I'm going to put a bullet though your head, and nothing's going to stop me. Not you, or Nazara!"

"How do you know that name!" he yelled as I walked away, and he faded away quickly after

"You shouldn't have come, you and Saren have too much history" Udina barked

"Okay" I interjected, not wanting to go through all of this, "History aside, we know he's with the Geth, and behind this attack. Question is, what's our first move?"

"He's a spectre, virtually untouchable. We need to find a way to expose him"

"What about the Detective? He said he was real close to something" Kaiden chimed in

"But how do we find him?" Ashley asked

"I have a C-sec contact, Harkin, he can help"

"Forget it" Anderson cut off Udina, "He's a drunk, suspended for it, let's not waste our time"

"You won't, you have too much history with him, if your involved it'll give them reason to throw out anything we find, Shepard will handle this"

"You can't cut the Captain out" Shepard said, getting frustrated

"He's right though" I said, getting a glare from Shepard, "Anderson's got history with Saren, this investigation is too important to get thrown out on a technicality"

"They're right, I need to step aside"

"I have business to conduct, Captain, come meet me in my office later" Udina said, walking away

"Harkins probably drunk and at Choras Den, crappy club in the lower section of the wards, sketchy little place" Anderson said

"Perfect, I'll fit right in" I deadpanned

"Are there any other leads?" Shepard asked

"Talk to Barla Von, over in the financial district, rumor is that he works for the Shadow Broker, he might know something about Saren, but it won't come cheap"

"Thanks Captain"

"Shepard" he said with a nod, "I'll go find something to occupy my time, in a public place, notify me if you find anything" and he walked away

"What's the plan?" Kaiden asked

"Well, it'd be best if we chased down both leads" she suggested

"I could go hit the Harkin lead" I recommended, "I'd blend into Chora's den"

"You're right" she said, "You and Kaiden should hunt down Harkin, Ashley and myself will go see this Barla Von"

"Uuuhhh" I spit out

"Commander" Kaiden protested

"It's not a debate" she growled at us, "Chase, you're in charge, given the scenery. Give us a call if you find anything", and the two of them just walked away

"So" I said, "do you want to get the awkward conversation out now or later?"

"What?"

"Oh, come on" I muttered, "don't play stupid"

"Fine" he sighed aloud, "for what happened"

"I forgive you" I interrupted him, "I learned awhile ago to look forward, and not dwell in the past. What happened is in the past. But don't get me wrong, I have no plans on being your friend, but I'll work with you"

"Thank you"

"Let's go" I muttered, and thus we began our journey to Chora's Den, much longer travel time than in-game. We exit the elevator that brought us to the same floor. "That must be the door that accesses Chora's den" I muttered, and suddenly we got a call coming from Shepard

"Miss me already?" I asked

"Shut up Chase, I'm just calling to let you know that we ran into some goons hired by Saren"

"Oh? How'd they end up?"

"Well, we're not rushing to get them to the hospital" she responded

"Alright, we'll keep an eye out, thanks for the heads up. I do find it cute that you were worried about me" I said, hearing a quick grunt before she hung up

"Why do you mess with her like that?" Kaiden asked

"It's fun to see her reaction, and sometimes she plays along. Jealous?"

"What!" he yelled, "Of course not, let's go" he said, and I just busted into laughter, and we went through the door, and right on cue three turians from across pointed their guns at us.

"That's him!" one of them yelled before I put three rounds into his face and dove into cover. I looked over to Kaiden, and with a quick glance he understood what I wanted. He stood up, threw up a singularity, catching one of them. As he did that, the other one left cover to fire at Kaiden, but I quickly took him down. And Kaiden finished the last one that was stuck in his singularity.

"You should go ahead and notify Shepard, I'ma see if I can learn anything from them" and I looked at the bodies, definitely can't get anything from them. Once Kaiden finishes his call we walk in and confront Harkin, goes pretty quick when you put a machete length blade to his neck threaten him to talk. Even got kicked out of the club, not that it matters though. We start our walk through the back allies, but taking a quick side trip to the markets, I'll need a rifle so I don't have to be so dependent on my pistol.

"We should be heading to the clinic" Kaiden groaned out

"Oh, calm down old man, I just need one thing" I said, going to the nearest gun stall

"Welcome to-"

"Yeah, I just need to know if you have a Mattock in-stock" I interrupted the Salarian

"Yes, however it's stock, no mods"

"Perfect, I'll take it" I said, transferring the necessary credits over to him.

"A mattock? I haven't seen one of those in years"

"Yeah" I responded, "but properly modified, it's amazing", and we moved out of the markets, making it over to the clinic that Garrus will be in. We walk in, and quickly see five thugs, Dr. Michel, and Garrus is sneaking along the wall. He quickly turns around the corner, dropping the thug next to the doc. I immediately pull up my new rifle, pumping three rounds into the next thug, and Kaiden threw up a singularity entrapping two of them, and we both took down one each, and Garrus finished off the last one.

"Great timing Chase, gave me my chance to take him out" Garrus said, chest puffed out

"Yeah, great and all, what happens if you hit her, dumbass" I replied, a little angered

He spins around, talons in the air, "Dr. Michel, are okay!?"

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you, all of you"

"Why were those thugs here?" Kaiden asked

"They were here asking about a Quarian patient of mine"

"What's with this patient that has those guys threatening you?" I asked, feigning ignorance, harder than it sounds

"She came in a couple days ago injured, said she had information on Saren, and wanted to meet with the Shadow Broker. I sent her over to see Fist, those were his thugs threatening me to keep quiet"

"Oh great" Garrus said sarcastically, turning towards me, "Fist cut his ties to the Shadow Broker, he works for Saren now" and that's my que.

"Alright, let's go see this Fist"

"Wait!" Garrus said, "I w-"

"You're in, let's go" I interrupted, getting a nod from him, walking out the door, making our way quickly through the alley ways, once when we make it into the room with the elevator I stop and call Shepard.

"Hey"

"Hey Shep, we found Garrus, good news is we got a bead on a Quarian with information on Saren, bad news is, so does Saren"

"Understood, we just picked up a Krogan, we'll be there soon, you should wait for us" she suggested

"Got it" I muttered, closing the call. "Alright, we're moving in"

"The commander said we should wait" Garrus muttered

"She suggested that we wait. I have a gut feeling that we shouldn't wait" I responded

"That's a technicality" Kaiden chimed in

"I thrive on technicalities, and she put me in charge" I claimed, "Okay, game plans simple, I'll go left, Kaiden will throw a singularity behind the bar and go right, you'll be on over watch, and focus on the Krogan bouncer", they both nodded and followed me over to the door leading into the club. "Go", and we burst into the club, Kaiden threw his singularity straight at the bar, and I took down three guys on the left, then overheated my gun. I switched for my pistol, and went for the bar, taking out the two that were stuck in the singularity. I peak around the corner, and see a guy pointing a gun at my head at point blank range, but he lost his first from Garrus's sniper. I round the bar, ending up at the rear, seeing Kaiden through my peripheral on my right, along with a dead Krogan. We finished up the rest of the goons, clearing the club.

"That wasn't so bad" I said with a grin on my face

"Yeah, you're not too bad" Garrus deadpanned

"Well I'm usually the one with the sniper, don't worry, I'll give you some pointers, you didn't do too bad" I said, pulling out my rifle and heading for Fist's office

"Don't come any closer, I'll shoot!" some guy yelled

"Warehouse workers?" Garrus asked

"Look, you guys getting paid enough to die?" I asked

"No, you're right" he responded dropping his pistol

"Maybe you should consider a new career path" I said, nodding towards the door, "Alright, you guys should get overloads ready, just in case"

"In case of what?" Garrus asked, and I just shrugged, feigning more ignorance, and we enter through the door

"If you want something right, just do it yourself" Fist yelled, and we barged in, my cohorts' overloads destroying the two turrets, and with three shots I took down his shield, and I put a round through his shoulder. "Please, I give up, just don't kill me"

I pull put my sword placing it on his wound, "Where's the Quarian?"

"I don't know!" he proclaimed, and I dug the edge of my sword into his shoulder, pulling it out and placing it on his neck

"I'll ask you again, and next time I won't go so soft" I threatened

"Okay, okay" he said, "I set up a meeting for her in the ally not far from here to meet the Shadow Broker herself, but it's just an ambush with Sarens men, she thought she's actually meeting with the Shadow Broker"

"Let's go" I said, walking about the door

"What about him?" Garrus asked nodding towards Fist

"I hear there's a Krogan with his name on a list" I muttered, walking out the door to the club, coming face to face with a Krogans shotgun at my face, and I immediately pull my sword up to his head plate on instinct, and we come to a stand still

"Seems like we're at an impasse, Mr. Krogan" I said, recognizing him

"I will kill you when you don't have that blade on my plate" Wrex threatened

"Chase?" I saw Shepard come around the corner

"Hey, come here often?" I deadpanned

"Is this really the time?"

"I take it that this is your new Krogan that you were talking about?" I asked, and she nodded "Fist is in the back if you want to finish your contract, saved him for you" I said, sheathing my sword, and he just grunted as he went into the back, hearing a shotgun blast.

"Why did-"

"No time Shep, we need to go" I interrupted her, starting into a run for the door, with Kaiden and Garrus on my tail, quickly followed by Shepard and Ashley. We make our run through the alleys, and as we run up the stairs I pull out my sniper, get up to the top, and scope down to see the exchange going down. The Turian is feeling her up, what a creep. I put him in my eye sight, wait for him to back up and I take him down fast, and with the combined fire from everyone, including Wrex apparently, finish off the two Salarians with ease.

"Are you okay?" Shepard asked, and I just tuned out the rest of this conversation, I already know what's going to happen.

"You know, you're pretty fast for someone your size" I said, starting a conversation with Wrex, but he just glared at me with a grunt

"We should go to the embassy" I heard Kaiden recommend to Shepard, and we started up the stairs toward the skycars.

"I've got a bounty to collect" Wrex said, walking away from our little group

"I'm going to miss that guy" I said

"Why?" Ashley questioned

"Krogans are fun" I replied, massive smile on my face

"Ashley, Kaiden, Garrus, you all can take this first shuttle, we'll take the next one that comes along" she said, and I gave Ashley two thumbs up and mouthed 'good luck' to her getting her to blush as she climbed into the car.

"So, how long have you been on you're pilgrimage?" I asked towards Tali

"How do you know about the pilgrimage?"

"I've uhhh," I stopped, thinking how to word this, "I've dated a Quarian before, learned a lot about your kind"

"You've dated a Quarian?" I heard Shepard question, "What exactly is your type?"

"I told you that I don't discriminate, and women who interest me are my type" I said

"Okay" she sighed, "why did you go into fist's without waiting?"

"One, you suggested for me to wait, two, I had a gut feeling to not wait" I said pointing towards Tali, "And good thing I didn't" and as I said that a skycar pulled up, and we entered

"How exactly did your meeting with the council go so bad?" she asked, jumping from topic to topic

"Well since you're fishing for info about we, let's just say I don't like when people talk down to me. I may have talked back towards them in the same manner, and they didn't take my threatening lightly"

"Threatening?" she sighed, "Who the hell is Nazara?"

"What?" I asked

"You said it towards Saren, and he looked like he was going to have a heart attack"

"I don't know" I muttered, but she wasn't buying. "Did I mention that my banker also works for the Shadow Broker?"

"Don't tell me-"

"Yep, Barla Von's my banker" I said, but she just scowled, "he just told me the name, I have no idea"

"You're a mystery Chase" she started, "You're one of the best shots there are, you've got history with the council, and you've been around the block, and trust your gut. And you have information contacts. You sure you're not a spectre, because you can't do as your told"

"I didn't do as I wasn't told" I said with a smile as we pulled up, "What can I say, I've had an interesting time at it since I've left the Alliance", and we walked down towards the Embassy, linking up with the rest of our little entourage. We walk into his office, and it starts off exactly as the game.

"You're not making my life any easier, Shepard. Firefights in the wards? A full-on assault on-"

"Would you just shut up, we got the damn evidence" I interrupted him, getting a slap to the head, even though she was smirking.

"What's this? Turian, Quarian?"

"We had a Krogan too." I muttered sadly

"Like Chase so ineloquently said, we have the evidence" Shepard said, nodding towards Tali.

"And you are Ms." Udina spoke up

"Tali, Tali Zorah Nar Rayya"

"We don't get many Quarians here, what brings you to the citadel?" Udina asked

"I was on my pilgrimage. But I heard rumors of Geth outside of the Perseus veil, so I investigated and found one on a planet that separated from it's group, and was able to pull some information out of its memory core"

"That's impossible" Anderson started, "Geth fry their memory core once they're captured, how could you've had done it?" he asked, and I decided to go and lean against the back wall.

"My people made the Geth, if you're good enough and fast enough, you can get a little amount of information out of them, I was able to salvage something from its audio banks"

"Okay" Udina said, "and this evidence?", and Tali started typing on her omnitool, bringing up the recording.

"Eden Prime was a major victory; the beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit"

"That's Sarens voice! This proves he was involved in the attack" Anderson said cheerfully

"But what's the conduit?" Shepard asked

"It must have something to do with the beacon, some sort of technology"

"Wait" Tali interjected, "There's more, he wasn't working alone"

"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers"

"I don't recognize the voice" Udina said, "the speaking about the reapers"

"That, that sounds familiar" Shepard stated

"I'm with Shepard, I've heard that somewhere" I yelled across the room, they all just noticed I'm over here

"According to the Geth, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that wiped out the Protheans, then vanished, they revere them as gods, and Saren's bringing them back" Tali claimed

"That's it!" Shepard exclaimed, "Our vision, it's the Reapers wiping out the Protheans!"

"Sounds farfetched" Udina put in, "The council will just love this"

"The reapers are the threat, we have to tell them" Shepard barked

"We'll tell them" I muttered, getting their attention, "but they won't believe us"

"Regardless" Anderson said, "this proves Saren's a traitor"

"The Captains right, we need to present this to the council right away. I'll notify you when we get our meeting" Udina said, walking over to his console, and we all walked out of the office, minus Anderson, and into the hall way.

"What do we do about the Quarian?" Ashley asked

"Her name is Tali" I growled at her, going to have to work on her anti-alien attitude

"You saw me in the alley, you saw what I can do, let me come with you" she asked

"When this comes out, Saren will put a bounty on her head, there won't be a safer place" I said, and Shepard just nodded

"I'll take all the help I can get, welcome aboard", Shepard said, looking over to Garrus

"I want Saren to pay for his crimes, I'm in too" Garrus said, she looked over to the two Alliance soldiers, "You don't even have to ask"

"Chase?" she asked

"You had my answer back on the Normandy" I said without hesitation, "but we should probably not bring such a large group to the council" and Shepard just nodded, and took a minute to think.

"Okay, I'll take Tali, she had the evidence, Garrus too since he was investigating it, and Chase since he saw Saren on Eden prime, and saw the vision as well" she said, "Kaiden, go ahead and get two rooms ready for them, and order up on dextro food and medicine" and Kaiden just saluted and walked off with Ashley.

"Shamefully: I don't know" I heard, and so did Shepard as she started walking towards the office.

"Hey Shep, you can go ahead and message me when they're ready, I some errands to run" I said as I walked away, avoiding those damn side missions. I make it to the skycar terminal, and take a quick five-minute trip down the wards in order to get some much needed supplies.

"Gerry" I said, walking into my favorite store on the citadel

"Chase, what can I help you with today?"

"Yeah, I'll need a case of Cubans, and three bottles of your best whiskey" I said, getting a questioning look from him

"Okay, how long do you plan on being away? That's a lot for you"

"Yeah, I don't know. You can go ahead and send it to the Normandy"

"That sounds like a military vessel" he said, pulling down the whiskey from his shelf

"It is, so if you can hide it…"

"Of course, do you know how many Alliance officers are clients of mine? I'll get it on the ship, no problems. It's 450,000 credits" he said, and I transferred it over to him, along with a tip.

"I'll take these two with me" I said, putting two cigars in my small pouch on my hip. I go ahead and leave, finding a clothing store to grab some lounge ware. I just grab some hoodies, pants, t-shirts, along with some jeans and a leather jacket. My omnitool starts ringing, and of course it's Shepard.

"What's up" I started the conversation

"We have a meeting with the council in five, where are you?"

"Oh, damn. I'll be a little late, you'll just have to start without me" I stated, and I could feel her wanting to slap me through the omnitool

"Why?" she sighed

"How was I supposed to know Udina was this quick, I figured we had a couple of hours till then, I'll see you there" I said, ending the call and making a quick walk towards the skycar. The trip took only five minutes to complete, but then the elevator up took forever. I walk out the elevator, make my way up to the where the council is, and take a spot next between Udina and Anderson.

"We understand your reasons Commander, but the person in question-" Tevos started

"I don't know" Councilor Valern interrupted, "this isn't the first recommendation, and he has quite the list of contacts throughout the galaxy, including access to certain information" the Salarian stressed those last four words, "and his skills are indisputable"

"What's going on?" I asked to Anderson, honestly confused on the situation, and he just gave me a confused look. I look up at the council, who just nodded at each other.

"Commander, Chase, please step forward" the Asari councilor demanded, and Shepard did as she asked

"Wow, I don't know what I have to do with anything"

"Chase, go!" Udina whispered and yelled at the same time

"For what? Why am I needed?" I asked, and I just got shoved up there next to Shepard

"It is the decision-"

"What hell is going on?" I asked, interrupting Tevos, receiving a slap to the back of the head, "I just got here you know"

"You're about to become the second human Spectre, now shut it!" Shepard said quite forcefully, nodding towards the Asari Councilor

"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the rights and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance Branch of the Citadel"

"Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions lift them above the rank and file"

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol, the embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will"

"Spectres bear a great burden. Both our first and last line of defense, the safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold"

"Congratulations, you're first mission is to bring in Saren Arterius for treason, whatever methods you deem necessary, meeting adjourned" Tevos finished, and all three left

"What the fuck?" I asked

"I figured two Spectres are better than one, and so did the council, because they agreed" Shepard said

"That was really fucking dumb" I stated, surprising Shepard

"Congratulations, to the both of you" Udina interrupted our little disagreement, "Even if there were unexpected turn of events" he commented while looking at me

"I'd be careful, I have a license to kill now" I deadpanned

"Anyways, me and Captain Anderson will figure out getting you a ship, and all the other details" he said, and they both walked away

"Dumb?" she asked

"Putting up your candidacy for someone you don't even really know was idiotic. What happens if they decided that you weren't ready for recommending my then, huh?"

"That wasn't an option" she responded smugly

"God, you're stubborn"

"Well, congratulations" Garrus said towards us, "Now you have access to spectre grade stock, it's at the C-sec academy"

"You hear that Chase? Your welcome" she said, with a lot of sass behind it

"Sweet, lets go" I said sarcastically, and we make our way over to the skycar, and Shepard takes the seat next to me. "I take it you're a little mad?", and she just looks at me, "Okay, I want to make something very clear, I don't read signs from women very well. If you don't tell me what's going on, I don't know" I whispered, not wanting to make Garrus or Tali uncomfortable

"Okay, I'm mad you're not happy or thankful for making you a spectre"

"Look I am, really" I started, "But I don't like that you risked your job for it. But thank you, you were right", and the rest of the ride to C-sec academy was quiet.

"You're welcome" she said as we got out of the sky car, and as we're walking towards the requisitions officer, I spotted a wild Krogan.

"Shepard, Chase" he started, "You're going after Saren, and I want in"

"Yes" "Why?" me and Shepard answered at the same time, and she just gave me a look

"You're going where the fight is, I want in" he responded

"Pretty sound reason" I said nodding my head, Shepard giving me a confused look at me, "He's a Krogan, that's a good reason"

"Alright, you're in" Shepard answered, and you could see the excitement in his face, and we just continued to the requisitions office. We walk in, and he quickly gives us access to the spectre stock once he see's us, word spreads fast. Shepard's practically runs over to some shotgun and rifle. I decide I want to smoke a cigar.

"You can't smoke that in here" the clerk said

"I'm a spectre" I said as I browsed the stock, and I could here want to say something, but had no comeback

"I don't think I could afford a single thing in this store" she said as I was paying for some mods I want on my Mattock.

"How much for the both of them?"

"1.3 million credits" she said, and I almost choked on my cigar

"Yeah, that's a lot"

"You do get a free set of Colossus heavy armor, I can have it sent to your ship" the officer said

"Thanks, we'll be going, you can have it sent to the Normandy" Shepard said, walking out with everyone, I just hung back and out of ear shot.

"I'll take that shotgun and rifle, send with the armor" I said, quickly transferring over the credits, and we make our way up the elevator to find Anderson and Udina waiting.

"Commander, I have great news!" he said, but I just walked by and towards the ship.

"Chase?" Shepard asked

"Oh, I already figured it out, they're giving you the Normandy. I'll see you inside" I said, walking inside, I need to find my whiskey, it's been a long day.


	3. Chapter 3

That's big

"You're focused" I said, surprising Ashley

"Are you, are you smoking a cigar? Is that whiskey?"

"I'm a spectre"

"Yeah, tell that to Shepard" she said, returning to her guns

"I'll have to pass" I said, finishing off my whiskey, "but that was some speech though, can I ask a favor?"

"And what exactly would this favor entail?"

"I just need some mods that I bought put in my rifle" I said, turning my focus to some crates on the ground, "Are those from the Spectre's office?"

"Yeah, the two sets of armor need a little calibrating, along with the two guns. I can get to your rifle after that"

"Thanks, and you don't have to worry about my armor, I prefer the set I have now. We can keep it as back up just in case" I said, turning my attention to the elevator door opening, and Shepard stepped out and went straight for engineering

"Huh, Joker wasn't lying"

"Care to fill me in?" I asked

"He said Shepard tends to make rounds throughout the day, figured he was just messing with me"

"And that's my que to leave" I said, nodding good bye and making my way to the elevator, going up to the crew deck to grab a tray of food, bottle of water, and retire to my room for the night. The food isn't the worst, it's gotten better since we stocked up on the citadel.

"Chase?" someone asked from the door way

"Shepard?"

"Why don't you have a shirt on?"

"Because I'm in my room, and I thought people would have the decency to knock" I stated bluntly, moving to my dresser, throwing on my hoodie, "I take it I'm the last round of the night?"

"What?"

"I heard through the grape vine that you like to make rounds around the ship, it's kind of late, they might get the wrong idea"

"It's only seven, I doubt that. Is that, is that whiskey?" she asked

"I'm a spectre?" I said, sliding the bottle over to her

"I'm good" she said putting her hand up, "I just wanted to get to know who I'm working with"

"It's not for you, you owe me a few drinks" I said, and she just slid the bottle back to me, and I put it away, "Thank you, your debt is now paid. So, tit for tat, you ask me a question, I'll ask you a question, deal?"

"Okay" she agreed, "Where are you from?"

"Mindoir, I think. What about you?" I asked

"Mindoir too, what do you mean 'you think'?"

"I woke up on an Alliance transport leaving Mindoir, I guess they found me after the Batarian attack. Were you there, during the attack?"

"Fortunately, no, my mother is in the Alliance and was on leave on Earth. My dad thought it'd be fun to surprise her, and the Batarians attacked while we were away visiting Earth. Do you not know where you're from, you said you think you're from Mindoir?"

"I don't actually have any memory before waking up on that transport, they asked me for my name, and the first thing I could come up with is Chase, Coates was just the brand of my jacket. How big is your family?" I asked

"Me, my sister Eden, Dad, and my mother. You don't have any family?"

"No, I don't have anyone, at least no one came to claim me. On a more serious note, what's our first step?" I asked, trying to turn the conversation, this topic makes me uncomfortable

"Well, we know Benezia's daughter is in the Artemus Tau cluster, we'll start there"

"Who's daughter?" I asked, I'm pretty sure I wasn't privy to this info yet

"Oh, right. I almost forgot you were late, Benezia was the other voice on the recording. She has a daughter that's a prothean expert on a dig site somewhere, we're going for her first"

"Okay, and if she's not involved? Or if she's being hunted by Saren herself, what's our play?" I questioned

"We'll deal with it when we come to it, I'll talk to you later, I have paperwork" she said, starting to walk away

"Ohh" I said, "sounds like fun. One quick question, what exactly is my role here? Where am I on the chain of command"

"Good question" she said, stopping at the door, "I guess you'd be like a co-captain. I'm above you, obviously, but you'd be above Pressley, the XO. However, you don't have any duties aboard the ship, with the exception of mission reports to the council" she commented as she walked out the door, I completely forgot about that. At least now I can sleep without being walked in on.

"Shit" I shoot up and see it's only 2:00am, 3 hours, this sucks. Waking up in sweats over that damn vision is starting to get on my nerves. It doesn't even scare me anymore, it just won't let me get any good sleep. I take a trip up to the mess to get a glass for my whiskey. I'm not such a barbarian as to drink from the bottle, and I just want a little to get me sleepy, but I hit the elevator button to the top floor and walk out into the CIC. Walking out I see some officer commanding the bridge, and a small amount of people on the floor. Night crew is small, kind of worrying if we get into some engagement. I walk down the stairs and passing by the mess hall I could see Shepard at a table, entrenched on some old book. And let me tell you, paper books, while not crazy expensive, are a very niche hobby, and not a lot of people actually read them, they just like the looks of them.

"Anything good?" I asked, startling her

"What are you doing awake?"

"I could ask you the same thing" I responded, "but to tell the truth, I can't get but a few hours before I wake up in sweats, damn beacon"

"Well, I'm a bit of an insomniac, and the beacon doesn't help"

"This will" I said, grabbing two glasses, and sitting across from her. "And one drink won't hurt you, so I won't take a no"

"Thanks" she said, sipping her whiskey, "Damn! This is amazing, and it's so smooth"

"It better be, it's 125,000 credits a bottle" I said, and she near spit it all out

"How the hell can you afford that?"

"I have some wealthy benefactors" I stated arrogantly

"Oh?" she asked, "and what exactly do you have to offer to your benefactors?"

"Not revealing information that can unravel them and their entire operation" I claimed, pouring myself a glass

"Extortion?"

"Trust me, this guy is as evil as it comes" I said, "Okay, let's not have such serious talk for once, what're you reading?"

"It's called 'The Maze Runner' from early 21st century, my dad sent it to me. He's obsessed with that time period for some unknown reason"

"For good reason, and while I've never read the books, I enjoyed the movies" I claimed

"Oh? I guess my dad's not the only one then"

"So, Jane, can I call you Jane?" I asked, and she nodded as she poured herself another, that's her third, "Tell me about yourself"

"Well, I started my service when I was 18, I-"

"No" I said, interrupting her, "you're giving me the story of Commander Shepard" I said with my best reporter voice, "I want to know who Jane is"

"I like reading" she said, and I nodded

"Any boyfriends?"

"Not currently, but I've had a few, but I don't care to talk much about my love life. My last one didn't end so well"

"I can relate" I nodded, finishing my glass. "My last girlfriend dumped me and went back to her flotilla, I honestly thought she was the one"

"How'd you get over her?"

"This" I said, raising my glass, "Truth is I got over her awhile ago, but my habits haven't died. So, were those boyfriends' human?"

"Yes?" she questioned back

"Well, Kaiden will be ecstatic to hear that" I said with a grin

"Is it that obvious?"

"He was following you around like a puppy Jane. How long have you worked with him?"

"About three months"

"That makes sense" I said, "before, you were his superior, but now that doesn't matter"

"Why wouldn't it matter?"

"You're a spectre now, you can't get in trouble for things like that" I said, and she finally understood, "So? Is Kaiden an op-"

"No, he's one of my best friends, but, not like that" she said, and we kept talking for a while, but I'm not exactly sure how long, we both got wasted. Next thing I know I'm opening my eyes, and I'm staring a desk, but it ain't mine, and my room isn't this big. I can't feel my left arm, looking over I see a sleeping Shepard on my arm, and an empty bottle of whiskey on the floor. That was supposed to last me two weeks, now I have to ration my other two bottles.

"Jane" I said, poking her, "JANE" I raised my voice, and she just opened her eyes, and looked at me for a few seconds.

"Oh my god" she nearly yelled, jumping up from the couch

"I've had worse reactions" I deadpanned, "But no, nothing happened. We both got drunk, somehow ended up in your office"

"We drank the whole bottle?"

"You owe me 62,500 credits" I deadpanned, "Well, I'm starving, and it's 7am, chow is in full swing"

"No, we can't walk out at the same time, they'll get the wrong idea"

"So, what's the plan? Because I'm starving, and that was the first bit of sleep that I'd had that I didn't wake up in sweats because of some nightmare, I wanna celebrate with food" I claimed, and her doorbell rang

"Who is it?" she asked nervously

"It's Kaiden" came from the door, and I couldn't hold back my massive grin

"In, now!" she demanded, pushing me into the bathroom, locking the door. Who makes sound proof bathroom doors? About five minutes later the door unlocks and I immediately open it and I see the door behind Kaiden close.

"How'd it-" I got interrupted by the door opening and Kaiden stepping back in

"Did I leave- Chase?"

"Kaiden" I responded, poker face engaged

"How'd you get in here?"

"I was in the bathroom, must have ate something that disagrees with me" I stated, pointing my thumb towards the bathroom, "and before that Jane and myself were discussing on what to do with Benezias daughter, depending on the situation. I'm sure Shepard can forward a report. I'll be in the chow hall if you have any more questions." I claimed, walking out of her room and into the Chow hall. I grab a tray of breakfast and take a seat next to Garrus and across from Tali.

"How's the dextro rations?"

"I've had worse" Garrus claimed

"I like them" Tali claimed

"You know that they ordered an entire case of Dextro steaks" I started, getting Talis attention, "If you ask, the chef will cook it for you, he's probably just not sure how to cook or prepare them"

"Really? I can have some?" Tali asked

"If you want, there's like 50 in a case, there's plenty for the two of you" I said, and we all returned to eating our food

"You've dated another quarian?" Tali asked out of nowhere, this conversation was bound to come, didn't think it'd happen with Garrus next to me

"Yes, for a little over a year, her name was Safi'Les nar Sudir, though I suppose it's vas something now. Any questions, like how we avoided her getting sick?" I asked

"I'll see you later" she said, quickly getting up and walking away

"How did you get intimate with a quarian?" Garrus asked

"Immuno boosters, among other things that temporarily gave her immune system strength. And after awhile she became acclimated to me, not that she couldn't become deathly sick, but we were cautious. Why are you so curious about quarian relations?" I asked, and he just nodded and walked away. Well, that was unexpected, I didn't think that would happen so quick.

"Thank you, I hate you, and thank you" Shepard said as she sat across from me.

"I'm sorry?"

"Thank you for coming up with that genius excuse, I don't think he suspects anything. I hate you because now he's waiting me to send a report on it"

"At least you didn't have to have the talk with him, at least not yet" I said with a grin, and she just stared at me

"Yeah, you're helping me with that report" and I could hear the seriousness from her voice

"and the second thank you?"

"I just got a call from Ashley saying that she finished working on my new guns, the ones I didn't buy from the spectres office"

"How do you know that it was me?" I asked, "Maybe it was the council"

"It came in your armor set, along with a data pad receipt, thank you"

"Commander" Jokers voice came over the intercom

"Joker"

"One of the planets we were scanning has an alliance distress signal coming from it, we're about 30 minutes out"

"Copy that Joker, go ahead and get a landing site for the mako" she said, turning towards me, "So, who do we bring?"

"Ashley and Wrex"

"Why them?"

"Well, Wrex has been around for a long time, and he's basically a walking tank. And we'll need to have a talk with Ashley about her anti-alien stance, and her being stuck close quarters with a Krogan will help" I claimed, and she nodded and activated her omnitool

"Wrex, Williams, get ready, you're dropping with us" she said, turning towards me. "You ready?"

"Oh yeah, I'm bringing my rocket launcher"

"You have a rocket launcher?"

"I had one on Eden Prime, custom made, but I ditched it because of the long run. I had a new one rushed when we reached Citadel space, this is non-negotiable" I said, standing up and walking for the elevator, "I'll see you down there" I said as I walked into the elevator, making my way down. Exiting the door, I start walking over to Wrex

"Wrex" I said, and I don't think I've seen a Krogan so happy

"Pyjak"

"Quick question, you mind helping me and Shepard? Ashley over there is a little alien phobic, and we're trying to fix that"

"Sure, unless there's action" he said with a smile

"You know she's related to the General from our first contact war, the one that didn't fight the Turians"

"I was in a bar when word came out about Turians little scuffle with you, smart decision to not fight an enemy who has superior numbers and weapons, shows you're not as stupid as the Krogan"

"Yeah, well, her and her family are kind of blacklisted for not fighting, not a lot of respect from humans, or the Alliance"

"Really?" he said, "While most Krogan would have fought, I know most people think he's a hero, that's interesting"

"Yeah, I need to get ready, you can be on the guns" I said, and he just grunted happily, and I went and got ready

"Drop's in two minutes" Shepard yelled, and Wrex just walked over and climbed into the Mako, did you know that there's two Makos?

"Shotgun" I yelled, getting into the Mako

"You're excited" Shepard muttered

"How good is your driving exactly?" I asked

"I'm an excellent driver"

"Oh, great" I claimed

"What?" Wrex asked from the back

"That means she's a horrible driver"

"30 seconds till drop" Joker came over the intercom

"Hey Wrex, ever dropped in a Mako?" I asked

"Fifteen seconds"

"No" Wrex responded

"It's a ton of fun" I said, and the cargo bay door opened up, and Shepard floored it, sending us flying towards the planet, and we tumbled for about 100 feet until we came to a stop.

"You're right, it is fun" he said, and without looking I could tell he was smiling, and Shepard started smiling

"So, Wrex, what was the biggest mistake the Krogan made during the rebellion?" I asked with a wink

"Friends" he replyed, "we had no friends to turn to. Krogan dislike most races, we alienated ourselves and no one came to help"

"You see what we're doing here?" I asked, looking as Ashley

"Why?"

"Because you've displayed a distrust for the Aliens on board the Normandy" I started

"And we want you to not distrust them, they are our Allies. And if you give them a chance, just have a conversation with them, I think you'll agree" Shepard finished

"It's not, okay, I really didn't mean any disrespect"

"We know" I started, "It's an occupational hazard in the Alliance, compounded by your family history. Try with Garrus first, talk about fixing stuff or something, you do that, right?"

"We're coming up on the distress beacon" Shepard said

"Wrex, eyes wide, something smells fishy" I claimed

"I don't smell anything"

"It's an idiom, means he thinks something's going to happen, like this is a trap" Ashley interrupted

"Humans, always speaking in damn riddles" Wrex muttered out

"See, not bad" I said towards Ashley, and she just smiled and flipped me off

"You hear that?" Wrex asked

"Hear what?" Shepard asked, and on que the Thresher maw erupted out of the ground, and Shepard just slammed on the brakes, meanwhile Wrex just started unleashing hell, roaring in the back. That's big.

"Shepard" I said, trying to get her attention, but she hasn't moved since the Thresher maw popped up a few seconds ago

"Shields at 50%" Ashley yelled as the shields are being chipped away

"We need to move" Wrex ordered, overheating the minigun

"SHEPARD!" I yelled, but she's frozen solid

"Shields are gone!" Ashley yelled, and nearly immediately I could hear searing coming from the hull. I grab the wheel from Shepard, push on her leg flooring the Mako, moving past the Maw.

"Wrex" I said, squinting from the light beaming through the holes in the mako, "distract it for a minute" I ordered, throwing my rocket launcher towards him

"This will work" he said, smiling. This guy's nuts.

"Help me out" I said towards Ashley, and we tried moving Shepard out of the tight compartment, but she went limp as soon as we tried moving her

"Is she asleep?" she asked, explosions going off not too far from us, Wrex is having fun

"She must have passed out, clearly not the first time dealing with thresher maws, this never happened, understood?" I asked, but didn't asked

"Are you okay?" she asked, "You got a lot of that acid on you"

"I'll be fine, we need to speed up" I muttered, didn't even realize that I got the acid on me, "Wrex, get your ass in here" I yelled, and simultaneously I saw the Thresher maw fall over dead. "Did you just kill it?"

"Your launcher was effective" he said as he stumbled in, covered in his own blood

"You're covered in blood"

"Nothing that won't heal, it was a baby anyways, not my first time killing one, I've taken bigger ones on one-on-one" he said, and me and Ashley just stared at each other with blank faces. I know he killed one in his rite of passage, but still, this is insane

"Well, what happened with Shepard didn't happen, understood?"

"Fine, I'm keeping the launcher" he said, smiling

"You're having a good day, aren't you?" I asked, and he just smiled, "Joker, we're ready for a pickup, tell Chakwas to get ready for acid related injuries"

"Is Shepard not in charge anymore?" he asked in a smart-ass tone

"If she was conscious, she would be" I said, closing the line, "Williams, go plant a bomb on that beacon, and see what the hell is over there", and about five minutes later Joker swooped in, and I drove in, parking the Mako. I think I heard Garrus have a heart attack as I jumped out carrying Shepard, placing her in the Gurnee for Chakwas.

"You're coming as well" Chakwas said, as she started pushing the gurnee

"I'll be up in a minute" I said, walking over to the lockers

"What happened?" Garrus asked

"Thresher Maw" I said, "I'll have Williams help you, I need to see the doctor" and I took off my armor, and I quickly applied medigel all over my right arm, where the acid got me the worse. My skin is on fire, and I make my way up to the med bay and walking in I could see Alenko sitting at her bedside.

"Alenko, get out" I muttered, collapsing on the closest bed

"What?"

"Sitting next to her isn't going to speed anything up, go find something to occupy your time. And I need to talk with Chakwas" I said, and he walked out, giving me an eye

"Your arm's really bad, I've never dealt with acid like this. Don't leave the floor"

"I don't care about my arm, how's Jane?"

"Physically fine, though she hasn't woken up yet"

"She froze" I stated, "She froze then passed out, what happened?"

"I'm not sure it's my place to say"

"Is it Akuze?" I asked

"You know about it?"

"I know enough regarding it, I figured she had help after"

"She did" Chakwas stated, "But-"

"I'm sorry" we both turn and see Shepard sitting up

"How much did you hear?" I asked

"The entire thing, including kicking out Kaiden"

"That was fun" I stated, "I'm going to go lay down"

"Not in your room" Chakwas stated

"Well I'm not staying in here" I started, "I'm pretty sure that these beds are recycled from Alliance secret torture chambers"

"You can use my room" Shepard said, stepping into the conversation

"Okay, you know where to find me then"

"Wait" Chakwas said, "I need to bandage that arm"

"You're not going to ask?" Shepard asked towards me while I'm getting my arm bandaged

"No, you'll tell me when you're ready" I said, "And by the way, no one knows you passed out. I got Williams and Wrex to not say anything, and when people ask we'll just say you got hit hard in the head"

"But that's not what happened, I failed-"

"Yes, you did, now take what happened and learn from it. You will fail in life, and you will fail again. Learn from it, and don't make the same mistake. I'm going to lay down" I said, leaving the med bay and making my way to her room, it's completely empty on this floor, it's a little weird. The second I enter the room I crash onto the couch.

"Commander?" I heard over the intercom, I got up and realized someone was trying to get in. I get up and walk to the door, opening it up to see Kaiden

"Chase?"

"Yes?"

"Is Shepard in there?" he asked

"Yes, but she's not exactly decent" I said with a wink, and his cheeks looked like cherries, "I'm just messing with you, she's not here. She was letting me take a nap here since the doc won't let me leave the floor, and those beds are absurdly uncomfortable. She's probably in the gym sweating off some stress if I were to guess"

"Oh, okay, thank you"

"What did you want to talk to her about?" I asked

"It's a personal matter"

"She's not interested Kaiden" I said, and he just turned towards me

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb, I know she's not interested, it's a little obvious. I also know that she cherishes you as a close friend"

"This doesn't concern you" he said, walking towards the elevator. This isn't going to end well, back to sleep. I wake up from the couch I was laying on, sweating, staring at the ceiling, damn vision.

"He just confronted you about it?" A voice came from my left, and I see Shepard at her terminal with someone

"Yeah, it was an awkward conversation. I don't know what I did to make him think that" Shepard responded

"I don't know, I thought he was cute. Or do you prefer the other guy?"

"What?" Shepard asked quickly, and quietly

"That other spectre is cute, you prefer him?"

"I would like to know the answer to that as well" I said, she quickly spun around and stared at me, and without looking, hung up on the call. "Sister?" I asked, and she just nodded, "Eden, right?"

"Didn't know you were awake"

"I don't sleep very well. So, last time I was awake, Kaiden came to the door looking for you" I said, slight grin on my face

"Yeah, that was horrible. You should go see Chakwas, get your arm checked out"

"Okay, if ever need to talk, I'm good at keeping my mouth shut" I said, walking out the door and towards the med bay.


	4. Chapter 4

Therum

"How's your arm?" I look up from my plate to see Tali sitting across from me

"It's been a day, but it's mostly healed" I said, moving my arm around. "Should be fully healed in a day, how's engineering?"

"It's amazing! I've had no idea that the Alliance has such advanced technology" she said, taking a quick sip of her food, "are you into tech?"

"I'm pretty good with Lincoln logs"

"What?" she asked

"Little pieces of wood that you can build with, usually log buildings"

"You're not kidding?" she asked, and I just nodded. "So, no tech?"

"No, I've tried, but it just goes over my head. Plus, that's why we have you" I said smiling

"Hey guys" I heard Ashley say, sitting next to me, "What're you eating?"

"Bland waffles"

"Protein tube" Tali answered, "How's the Mako coming? I saw you and Garrus pull an all nighter"

"Slowly, but I have coffee to help with that" she said, lifting her mug, "And I finished your new armor"

"Uugghh" I said, head falling onto my plate, "You sure it can't just patch it?"

"No, you can't patch holes bigger that a fist, a dozen times" she said, "but your helmet was salvaged"

"Thanks, so, Mako?" I asked

"Yes…" she trailed

"Good to know that you're taking my advice, how's Garrus taking it?"

"Well, at first he wouldn't let me touch it, but when I showed him I knew what I was doing, he let me help under supervision"

"Supervision?" I asked

"Yeah, for about two hours, then it was smooth sailing after then"

"Do you guys need any help?" Tali asked

"No, we should be able to handle it, don't you work like 13 hours a day as is?" Ashley asked

"I'll see you guys later" I said, walking away to throw my trash away, and not wanting to be in that conversation

"You already eat?" I heard Shepard ask from behind me

"Yeah, and you should know that our chat with Ashley was very effective" I commented, nodding over to her and Tali

"Okay, well today is the last system that we have to check out, so we should be finding Dr. T'soni soon" she said, "Any idea on who we should bring?"

"Well" I said, "We'll need Tali for her tech skills against the Geth, and other than that, anyone I guess. What's our time table?"

"We should be in the Knossos system by 9:30, any idea on where to start?"

"I was looking at the map, maybe Therum?" I suggested

"Okay, I'll let Joker know, when should we meet to discuss our last choice"

"How about we don't, and say we did"

"How about we do, and do" she replied

"I'll back whoever you choose, because either way the mission will be a success, deal?" I asked as I walked away before she could stop me, making my way to the gym.

"Could all members of the ground team report to the briefing room in five minutes please" Joker said, ending my morning workout. Checking my omnitool I see it's 10:20, looks like they found our new doctor. After a quick change of clothes, I made my way up to the CIC deck, getting into the elevator with Garrus.

"I heard you made a new friend" I commented

"I'm sorry?"

"Miss Williams?" I asked, and his mandibles twitched

"She has been very helpful in repairing the Mako"

"And how goes that?"

"It's still not usable, at least a weeks' worth of repairs, and then we still need parts to bring it back to one hundred percent"

"Great" I muttered, leaving the elevator and making my way to the briefing room, and I took up a spot leaning up against the back, out of the way

"Okay everyone" Shepard started, "We found Dr. T'soni, she's on a dig site on Therum, however Geth are spotted on the planet. I would prefer that everyone would be on this mission, but we're down to one mako, so we're cut down to four. It'll be a drop a few klicks from the dig site, and we'll have to move in, dealing with Geth, if we go any closer we risk being shot down, so we're forced to go the long way. The team will be myself, Chase, Tali, and Garrus. We leave in 15, dismissed." And everyone filtered out, and it was just me and Shepard.

"Garrus?" I asked

"We're fighting in open space, the two of you will be doing most of the heavy lifting, until we actually get into the dig site. Did you have a different preference?"

"Either Kaiden or Wrex, for biotics, but I trust your judgement"

"Well, if you talked to me about it, maybe in a meeting, oh wait, who's idea was that?" she asked, sarcasm oozing out of her

"It's not like we won't get the job done, I'll be in the loading bay when your done gloating" I said starting to walk

"Wait" she said, and I turned to her, "I didn't go with Wrex because he got badly injured on the last mission, and Kaiden, it's a little too soon after our talk"

"I figured" I lied, didn't even think of that. "You alright Jane, for the mission?"

"Yeah"

"I'll see you down there" I said

"And thank you, for your talk after the mission"

"It's what I'm here for" I said walking out the door, going to the loading bay.

"Any chance I can get my launcher back?" I asked, but he just laughed and looked away, damn you Wrex. "I'll buy it" I said, but he just ignored me. I make my way over to my locker and load up a small number of explosives, never know when something's going to have to blow up. "You ready?" I asked towards Garrus

"Yeah, I'm ready" he said as he loaded his sniper on his back, "I am worried about her though" nodding towards Tali

"I'll keep an eye on her. All Quarians do go through combat training before leaving on pilgrimage, I'm sure she can handle herself"

"Where did-" he stopped mid-sentence.

"Ha! You were about to ask where I learned that, right?" I asked, and he just nodded

"You had what we humans call 'zombie brain', it's pretty common" I said, walking over to the Mako, getting in. This, this is going to be fun.

"This one works, right?" I asked towards Garrus as he climbed in

"Why wouldn't it work?" I heard Tali ask from the back, when did she get in here?

"I don't know, maybe he grabbed a part from this one?"

"I didn't, this one's in perfect working order"

"For now, you haven't seen her drive" I muttered the last part as Shepard climbed in

"Everyone ready?" she asked, and we all responded, "What were you all talking about?"

"Nothing" Tali quickly answered

"What's wrong with you?" she asked, looking at me

"Wrex won't give me my launcher back"

"Why?"

"I bribed him with it" I said

"I definitely don't want to know" I heard Tali say from the back

"I think you, without explosives, is a good thing" Shepard commented

"I still have my c-4" I muttered

"You're joking, right?"

"Yes" I said, and she sighed in relief, "saying c-4 is misleading, this stuff's way stronger" I said with a smile, and the loading bay door ahead of us opened.

"30 seconds until drop point" Joker claimed

"Copy that" Shepard responded, and soon the green light went off, and we started going

"Hold on tight" I said looking over at our two resident aliens, and we started our free fall towards the lava filled world, tumbling through the air and landing hard onto the ground. I won't lie, I like doing this.

"That was unpleasant" Tali muttered out, I couldn't help but grin

"Garrus, jump on the guns, we have incoming!" Shepard yelled as the Geth dropship dropped off some armatures, just like the game.

"Shepard, we have a small base ahead!" I heard Garrus yell, snapping me from my omnitool

"There's a small path to the right" I observed

"Oh, you're here?" she quipped

"Oh look, a Geth Garrus! See now I'm helping!" I deadpanned, get a smirk from her

"We should get out" Garrus commented, taking out the one turret.

"Fuck that, just ram them" I said, quickly regretting saying that, I almost forgot who was driving. She started ramming them with extreme prejudice.

"Hack any Geth?" I asked, holding onto my seat as Shepard kept ramming them

"How? She kills them too quickly" she said, and I couldn't help but laugh

"Tali, Chase, go lower that gate" she ordered, and we moved out. Going into the small base I took point, taking out my newly upgraded Mattock and dropped the shock trooper quickly. I go over to quickly look it over, and Tali moves past me towards the corner. I start to follow her, and she dives from around the corner towards me, knocking me off balance when another shock trooper came around the corner, ramming me into the wall. On instinct, I drew my sword from my sheath, swinging my sword down the middle of its head, splitting the eyeball in half.

"You okay?" I asked towards her, getting a nod, and I walked over to the control panel, opening the gate. "We're on our way back", and on the way back Tali tried to apologize, but I just waved her off, it's not like she has a ton of combat experience, that mistake was on me. Garrus will freak when he sees the front of this thing.

"How'd it go?" Shepard asked

"It went fine" I said, "how much farther?"

"It's a few minutes away" she said, starting the mako.

"We can't fit the Mako through" I look up from Tali's comment, and see we're already at that section, I really need to stop getting so entrenched in my omnitool.

"Well…." Shepard started

"No Shepard, you will not fit" I said, staring at her, and I could see her disappointment, "It's okay kid, maybe next time" I commented, patting her shoulder.

"All right, on foot people" she said, and we all got out, and as soon as we did I grabbed Garrus.

"Just don't look at the front" I said, and I could see the dread come over him, and he went to the front of the Mako, immediately falling to the knees. "It'll be fine, you and Williams will take care of it, just a little paint" I said, giving Shepard a look

"Let's move!" I heard Shepard yelled in her best 'Commander' voice, and Garrus just snapped too, running up to take point. Damn, I was hoping for more of a reaction from Garrus.

"That's cheating" I muttered, getting a cocked head from Tali, I just shrugged. I'm pretty sure I heard her say something about humans.

We changed formation, Shepard taking the lead with Tali not far from behind her, with Garrus and myself hanging back.

"Sniper!" Shepard yelled, and before she could do anything, I dropped it. Garrus and I was pretty efficient, providing cover for Shepard and Tali, and when we spotted a Shock Trooper, we'd take them down with a quick 1-2 from us.

"I'm moving up, Tali needs a little more cover" I said, getting a nod from him, closing the gap between us by half, about 30 meters. I pop up and take down three regular Geth that rounded the corner, Tali taking down one with her shotgun. We continue our way up, eventually making it around the corner and finishing off everyone in the immediate area.

"Why are you doing that?" I heard Shepard ask towards me

"I do a lot of things; can you be more specific?" I responded as we started up the hill

"You are focusing on the Shock troopers, you need to focus on the small fries first" she suggested

"I do it to dumb them down faster"

"What?"

"What?" I asked, stopping by some rocks, "you do know that the more you kill, the dumber they get. And the more specialized, I.E. shock troopers, carry a lot more programs, affecting all the other ones. You didn't know?"

"No, how'd you know?"

"Google" I deadpanned, yeah, they're still around, "We should go" I started, walking towards the refinery

"Geth!" Tali yelled as the damn frog jumped off the scaffolding, and the Armature turned on.

"Heavy hitter, get to cover!" I yelled, jumping behind a concrete barricade. Damn these hoppers. I completely forgot about them, it's been 13 fucking years, and I've wrote down all the knowledge that I felt was very important, but these small details have been long gone. I pop out of cover and drop one of the Geth.

"Tali, can you drop its shields?"

"I'm working on it" she said, typing away on her omnitool. I look up, pull out my mattock, and sprint across and slide next to Shepard. "No way, it's shields are too strong, I can drop it 25%, but we won't be able to drop it before it recharges"

"Damn" I muttered

"I know, I don't have an idea too" she said, returning fire

"No, I have a plan, just didn't want to do it" I said, getting ready to sprint, "give me some cover" and I sprinted behind the refinery thing we're at, allowing me to reach where the Armature is. I take a deep breath, ready my explosives, thank god that I brought them, and sprinted towards the Armature, sliding under it's legs. I know that if I look towards Shepard, she'll be wording expletives towards me, but I'm a little busy. I slam a pod onto the belly of it, but it fell off immediately, damn it. It won't stick, gotta think quick, omnigel! I pull out a canister, coat the pods with it, and test one. They won't last long, but it'll work. "We got five seconds after I start running!" I yelled over the comms.

"Just hurry the fuck up!" Shepard yelled, she's furious. I put up all the pods, hit my omnitool to arm them, and run like hell, and as I round the corner I could feel the heat come over me as it throws me.

"Chase!" I heard someone yell over, but I don't want to get up, I'm tired.

"Chase!" I felt someone pushing on me, I look up to see Shepard

"Did I get it?"

"Yes, you idiot!" she yelled as she pulled me up

"What the-"

"Can we do this on the Normandy" I interrupted her, wiping off the dust on me. "We have a doctor to find, and we're racing machines"

"Fine, for now," she said, leading over to the opening to the dig site. Glancing over I see a crater where the Armature was, that's a big hole.

"I forgot you had those on you, zombie brain, right?" Garrus started, and I just nodded, giving a thumb up to Shepard as she just nodded in disappointment, but I see her smiling.

"Garrus, take point" Shepard ordered, and we make our way down, it being exactly like the game.

"This seems sketchy, 100 credits say one of the elevators break"

"I'll take that bet-" Garrus said, just as the elevator breaks and we fall onto the scaffoldings below us.

"So, now or later?" I asked, but he ignored me

"Is someone there?" we heard, and me and Shepard walked over

"No, we're not here, I'm a figment of your imagination"

"A human's her figment of her imagination?" Shepard asked incredulously

"I'm in a lot of women's imagination"

"So, you're stuck?" Garrus asked, interrupting our conversation

"Yes, I came in here behind this barrier curtain, but I must have activated an alarm, or a-"

"Why are there Geth after you?" I cut her off

"I don't know! I'm also concerned that the Geth are out of the Perseus Veil! It's been 300 years!"

"Okay" Shepard butted in, "How long have you been here?"

"I don't know, a day, maybe longer?"

"Alright, you stay put. We'll find a way around" Shepard said, and we turned around towards the floor below us.

"Hey Shepard" I said, getting her attention, "Where exactly is she going to go?"

"Shut up" she said, and we made our way down towards the miner laser, Geth appearing out of nowhere, but we quickly dispatched them.

"They came out of nowhere" Garrus muttered, reading my mind, he's just mad that I stole two of his kills

"Maybe you should work on your aim" I said, and he just looked away

"No entrance down here Shepard"

"I know, any ideas?"

"Tali, how about that mining laser" I suggested, and she just took a quick look at it.

"It could work"

"Do it" Shepard ordered, and with a few taps, and a crap ton of dust, we had an entrance. We walk in, making our way towards the elevator

"Anyone know how to use Prothean elevators?" I asked, but got a nod from everyone

"I'll give it a shot" Tali said, taking a look at the control panel, and with a tap we start rising

"Lucky guess"

"It was not, it was an educated hypothesis" and I just stared at Tali, "It was the biggest button"

"Well, it worked" Shepard said, and we made it to the floor with Liara.

"Okay, Ms. T'soni, I'm going to ask some quick questions, I want quick answers" I said, "Are you working with your mother?"

"What no! I haven't seen or talked with her for years"

"Okay, what about Saren?"

"What does that have to with anything?" She asked

"Answer it"

"No! I have no Idea what's going on" she said, and I looked over to Shepard, and she nodded, at least we avoided boring conversations

"How do we get you down?" Shepard asked, and Liara guided her, and she fell, barely able to stand. Tali helped her up

"How did you get in here anyways?"

"Mining laser" I said with a smile

"Right, of course. We could use the elevator in the back, I believe it should take us up to the surface" She claimed, and Shepard led us to it, turning on the elevator. About five seconds into it, a massive quake rocked the elevator. I immediately look over to Shepard. "This area is extremely unstable, the mining laser must have set off a chain reaction!"

"Joker, lock in on our position! And double time it"

"Roger that commander, eta 8 minutes"

"Make it faster!" I butted in, and as soon as we reached the top we came up to that damn Krogan and a buttload of Geth, I knew I should've brought Wrex.

"Surrender, or don't. That would be more fun." He started

"You do realize this place is falling apart" I said

"Exhilarating, isn't it? Thanks for getting rid of the energy shields for us, we'll take the doctor now"

"Tali" I said over our secure com, "once things go down fall back with liara, Garrus will go with you. Shepard, you focus on the Geth, Garrus will support, I'll deal with the Krogan" and within a second I heard clicks from all of them, acknowledging

"She'll stay with us, thanks" Shepard said

"Not an option, Saren wants her, and he gets what he wa-" I interrupted him with a quick two shots from my rifle, and all hell broke loose, and the Krogan rushed at me, and I dove to the right, avoiding the freight train. Damn Krogan are faster than they look. He quickly turns around, throwing me against the wall with biotics. I get up, rolling to my right to avoid a shotgun blast, and charging at him with my pistol, dropping his shield, but I rolled to my left into cover as he recovered and brought another shot at me. Damn thing dropped my shields, and only half the rounds hit me. I pull up my pistol, go around the cover to try and flank him, but he was waiting for me, pumping a round into my side, landing me against the wall.

"You were a good little exercise, pyjak" he muttered, picking me up with his right arm, "thanks for the fun"

"You do know where you messed up, right?" I asked almost incoherently, blood spewing from my mouth

"And what's that?" he asked, smiling

"You gave me time and an opening" I muttered, pulling out my sword, hitting the one-use button on the handle, and the edge started glowing white hot immediately, swinging it at his arm, lopping it off. I fell to the ground and looking up I could see him trying to stop the bleeding from the stump where his arm use to be. I quickly recover, grab my sword and jump at him, stabbing the sword into his head, and he just went limp, and I fell next to him. Looking around I could see Shepard and Garrus finishing off the last of the Geth, and on que another quake, much stronger than before, started to rumble.

"We need to move!" she yelled, going over to carry Liara herself, I get up slowly, applying some medigel. "Move, move, move!" she yelled, and we all started to run, I ended up in the back, right behind Tali.

"Let's go!" I yelled, starting to push Tali every time she started to slow down, damn scaffolding was falling literally a few feet behind me.

"Up the tube" she yelled, as we started up the entrance, "Joker, you better be there" I heard her yell, and as we reached the top I saw the Normandy, and Tali barely made the jump, and I made it a little past her, reaching it just in time. I pull Tali up, guiding her to not be on the loading door for when it closes.

"Doctor, over here" I heard Ashley yell, running over to Garrus.

"Yeah, that makes sense" I said rather loudly, "run to the guy that doesn't have a scratch on him" I said, realizing I was bleeding again, and I just fell onto the ground.

"Chase!" I heard someone yell, but I couldn't tell who it was, I passed out before I could look up.

I open my eyes and see a metal roof. Med bay, it's night based on the lights. At least I'm not dead. Looking over I see the doctor typing away at her desk, why is she always typing. Right next to me I see Shepard, fast asleep on a chair. I make a quick, low pitched whistle to get her attention.

"Doc" I whispered as she came over

"Don't worry, I gave her a sedative, she'll be out for another hour, or less"

"Okay, how bad?" I asked

"Bad, you've been out for two days. In fact, you had two broken ribs, three cracked, massive blood loss, and you needed a new kidney"

"Damn" I muttered, "How long till 100%?"

"Nothing was life threatening, besides the blood loss and kidney, but those are fixed. I'll give you a week until you're back to normal. You will need to see me everyday for an injection, it makes sure that your body doesn't reject the implant. Do everyone a favor, me especially, don't fight Krogan.

"He looked like he wanted a hug" I deadpanned, "Why's Jane here?"

"Well, JANE" she emphasized, "has been spending any free time here that she has"

"Why?"

"Ask her when she wakes up, and don't get up, you still need a day in bed. I'm going to get some sleep, yell if you need me" she said, leaving the med bay. Am I supposed to yell through two floors?

"mmmmahajkh" I heard Shepard mumble, so I guess it was less, and not an hour

"You awake?" I asked, and she woke up, startled

"You are?" she asked

"No, you're still asleep. You can still use me as you see fit again" I deadpanned, earning a quick sucker punch to the shoulder, "That was uncalled for"

"Good to see you're awake"

"Can't sleep without me, I understand" I deadpanned, "All joking aside, heard you spent a lot of time here, you okay?"

"I'm fine, just wanted to talk you when woke up"

"I'm injured, don't hurt me"

"What?" she asked

"Just covering my bases" I said, "And what exactly are we talking about?"

"Your actions on Therum, you were way too reckless"

"That's how I fight, I don't know what to tell you"

"What happens if you die?" she asked

"Then I die?" I responded

"What?"

"Oh, I see what's going on. I don't really care if I were to die"

"What the hell do you mean?" she said, standing, furious

"Well, I don't know. It's not like I have anything to live for. No family, no real friends, actually the only thing I had was the Alliance, but that's long gone. Stopped caring I guess."

"Well, we'll fix it" she claimed

"We'll fix it?"

"I find something you'll want to live for" she claimed, stomping out of the Med bay. This, this is an odd turn of events.

"Do not get me a pet!" I yelled before the door closed, that would be too much of a hassle.


	5. Chapter 5

Citadel

"Okay" she said, giving me a quick shot, "You're free to go"

"Don't feel too bad doc, something tells me I'll be back tomorrow" I said with a smile

"Yes, well, nine a.m. tomorrow" she said, and I walked out the med bay, a free man.

"Hey Chase" Tali surprised me, just the person I wanted to see

"You got it?" I asked, and she handed me my cigar and lighter. "Thank you" I said, lighting up right outside the door of the med bay, there's a special place in hell for people like me. Looking over I could see that breakfast is over, damn it! I'm really hungry.

"Could all members of the ground team report to the briefing room in ten minutes" Joker announced over the coms

"What's that for, I thought we were going to the Citadel, we didn't get roped into something else, did we?" I asked towards Tali

"No, I think that's the debrief for Therum" she claimed

"That was three days ago, why is this just starting?"

"Because the….. co-captain?" she asked, "was unconscious and Shepard said we were going to wait till you could participate"

"I think mission co-leader would be more accurate as I have no duties on the ship" I said as we started up the stairs, "So, have you met the Asari?" I asked

"Once or twice, but rumor is Shepard has become quite familiar" she claimed, looking around to ensure she didn't get caught

"Explain"

"Okay, ever since after the mission on Therum, she has been seen spending nearly all her free time in the med bay" she led on, "And Liara has taken the supply room behind said med bay"

"Interesting" I said, walking into the briefing room and noticing the rooms empty, "I would corroborate your rumors, but I was unconscious at said time"

"Wow, I'm just informing my mission co-leader of rumors" she said, hands up. "Shepard's business is none of mine", and on that note, Garrus walked in.

"Chase, how're you feeling?"

"Meh" I responded, "Although I need to ask the doc what she knocked me out with for those two days, slept great."

"Yeah, good luck with that" he said as he sat down

"You okay?" I asked, he seems a little down

"We" he stopped for a second, "We left the other Mako on Therum"

"I'm, I'm sorry for your loss" I said, holding in my laughter. "How's about the other one, you and Williams making progress?"

"It's pretty much done, but we need some specialized parts that we don't have on hand" he claimed, and the rest of the ground team filtered in, and eventually Shepard as well.

"Too close, Commander. Ten more seconds and we would've been swimming in molten sulphur. The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull. Just for future references" Joker stated, starting out little meeting

"We almost died, and your pilot is making jokes?" Liara asked

"Yeah" I said from my spot on the wall, "Three days later and it's still funny"

"Joker saved our asses, I think he deserves one bad joke" Shepard claimed

"I see." Liara started, "It must be a human thing, I don't have a lot of experience dealing with your species, commander"

"Humans usually don't make much sense" Tali butted in, and all the Aliens just nodded. Should I be offended?

"Nonetheless, I'm grateful, you saved my life back there, from the volcano, and the Geth" she said

"What did Saren want with you, do you know anything about the conduit?" Kaiden asked

"Only that it was involved with the prothean extinction, which is my area of expertise. I've spent the last 50 years studying what happened to them"

"Just how old are you exactly?" Shepard asked

"Shepard, never ask a woman her age, you trying to get yourself killed?" I said out loud, earning a few nods

"It's not a problem, but I hate to admit that I'm only 106" Liara responded

"Damn, I hope I look that good when I'm your age" Ashley butted in

"A centu-"

"That's young for an Asari" I interrupted her, "She's basically a high school senior. I take it that's why most of your research goes without the attention it deserves"

"Yes! thank you!"

"What did you turn up in your research?" Shepard asked

"It's what I can't find that's interesting, there's little evidence that Protheans existed. Even less on what happened to them" she claimed "But here's the incredible part, it's like the evidence was wiped cleaned, and my findings suggest this isn't the first time. According to it, this isn't the first galactic civilization to vanish, this cycle began long before them"

"If there's no evidence, how'd you come up with this theory?" Shepard asked

"Sometimes the lack of evidence, is evidence" I muttered

"I've worked on this for fifty years. I have tracked down every scrap and shred of evidence. Eventually, subtle patterns start to emerge. Patterns that hint at the truth. I can't prove it, it's a feeling from working on this for five decades, and this wasn't the first cycle"

"A gut feeling?" I asked, and she nodded

"The galaxy is built on a cycle of extinction, each time a great civilization rises up, it is suddenly and violently cast down. Only ruins survive, the Protheans came from a single world, expanded to the entire galaxy, and now they're gone. And all their greatest achievements, mass relays and the citadel, based on the tech of those who came before, and they disappeared, almost no traces, and I need to know why."

"They were wiped out by a race of sentient machines. The Reapers." Shepard deadpanned

"Reapers, I've never heard of, how do you know this, what evidence do you have?" she exclaimed, barely able to get it out

"A damaged prothean beacon on Eden Prime, burned a vision into Chase's and my brain. I'm still trying to figure it all out" she claimed

"Visions, of course. Beacons were designed to transmit information directly to the brain, that makes sense. Finding a working one is extremely rare, I'm not surprised the Geth attacked Eden Prime"

"Plus, I got a picture of one" I claimed, getting everyone's attention. "What?"

"What are you talking about?" Shepard asked me, and I immediately pulled up helmet cam footage of the Reaper leaving Eden Prime.

"Now, we know the Geth don't have the abilities to create a dreadnaught capable of landing in atmosphere like it's no big deal, not to mention the aesthetics of it. That means it comes from alien origins. That, coupled with Tali's recording, leaves me to believe that the giant red ship, is a reaper" I claimed, and everyone just went slack jawed. "No one else made the connection? Anyways, we were talking about the beacon"

"Yes, I am amazed you were able to make any sense of it at all" she said, turning back to the commander, "A lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed by the process. You must be remarkably strong willed, commander."

"Me too" I muttered

"This doesn't help with Saren, or the conduit" Kaiden stated

"I'm sorry, I got sidetracked. I'm afraid that I have no information on either subject" she claimed

"I don't know why Saren was after you, but I think we'll be a lot better off if we bring you along"

"Thank you, Commander, I cannot think of a safer place to be at, I'll be happy to help however I can" Liara thanked her, I feel like she's ignoring me over here

"And having her biotics will come in handy" Wrex said smiling

"Welcome aboard, everyone dismissed" she claimed, everyone filtering out except the two of us "How're you feeling?"

"Not bad, need to ask the doc for what she used to knock me out those two days, slept like a baby"

"Good luck with that"

"Huh" I said, "Garrus said the same thing. Was it me or was it like she thanked you for everything, I feel like I did at least half the work, if not more"

"Jealous?"

"I don't know, you tell me, I'm not the one in the rumors" I said, grinning ear to ear

"What are you babbling about?"

"You didn't hear?" I asked, getting a quick stare, "Rumor mill says that you've spent a lot of your free time after Therum in the Med bay, and people are saying-"

"That you and I are a thing" she sighed, rubbing her head. "I'm not even sure how to react"

"No" I said, "Don't interrupt me and I'll finish. And people are saying that only happened when Liara set up shop in the back"

"Oh"

"So, is it true?" I asked

"What? No! You should know, I was sitting in that damn uncomfortable chair waiting you to wake up, so I could yell at you"

"Well, I was unconscious for all but the five minutes we talked, then you stormed out" I said, crossing my arms

"Well I'm not, I can't be" she said, and I waved for her to continue, "Well, I'm not into women"

"You do know-"

"Oh, don't give me that crap that they're not really females" she exclaimed, "But to speak the truth, when I was talking to her after the mission, she expressed an interest in me" and I just fell to the floor laughing, I knew it was coming, but being here is hilarious.

"So, who's next for you to turn down, Garrus or Tali? Or is Wrex more your speed?" I giggled out while on the floor

"Get up" she said, lifting me. "We're arriving on the Citadel tomorrow, any plans?"

"Well, I need to get another sword" I muttered on, "and restock on some explosives, how long are we going to be there?"

"Two days, perfect amount of time to get some shore leave for everyone"

"Don't let Wrex know, he might get a little bored"

"I wonder why?" she asked sarcastically, "And when were you going to inform me that you think we had seen a reaper?"

"I thought of it during my incarceration" I claimed, getting a look, "When I was stuck in the Med bay"

"And you didn't bother to inform me?"

"You never came back in the med bay, and I wasn't one hundred percent. Plus, I figured that the debrief already happened. Why didn't you bother to inform me?"

"You're in a mood" she started, ignoring my question. "What?"

"I missed breakfast"

"Is that it?" she asked

"I got to go make some calls, I see you later" I said, walking out and finding a spot to take a nap. I settle on hiding in a maintenance tube, where it's nice and warm, perfect temperature. Who wouldn't be mad about missing breakfast?

"Ding, ding, ding. Ding, ding, ding. Ding, ding, ding" I wake up in a small cold sweat, I think I'm going to start passing on naps if I just wake up in a cold sweat. At least I won't miss lunch with my well-placed alarm. I start crawling through the maintenance hatches, going down a level to one that opens right next to the kitchen. I kick it open, it making a rather loud metal clank, and crawl out. I put the metal crate back, dust myself off and notice a bunch of people staring at me.

"What?!" I asked, and everyone just went back to doing their own thing.

"Why did you crawl out of a maintenance shaft?" Ashley asked me as I was seeing what food was available

"Why don't you?" I rebutted

"Because we have an elevator"

"Yeah, an elevator that moves 1 mile an hour. Plus, I'm hard to find when I'm down there" I claimed, picking up a tray of food and making my way to a table with Joker and Garrus. I don't think that I've talked with Joker yet.

"Well, I'm just glad I'm not being bogged down in red tape anymore" Garrus said to Joker

"What about you Chase?" Joker asked

"Well," I started, not knowing the question, "I've always been partial to snipers, explosives, swords, and assault rifles"

"What are you talking about?" Joker questioned

"I don't know, what was the question?"

"You didn't know" he sighed and started laughing. "Okay, do you miss your old life?"

"Well" I thought, "I guess I still have to get use to working in a team. But being an assassin isn't really fun, so I don't really miss my old life that much" I said, shoveling the rest of my food in their silence. It's not exactly public knowledge that I worked as an assassin while I was a contractor.

"I never heard of you" Garrus said in a low grumble

"Yeah" I said, taking a sip from my drink. "There's two reasons for that. One, I'm just that good. Two, I did mostly jobs for the Alliance, so it was all official. I would also take jobs from loved ones that lost people to gangs and mercs, so I also have a lot of enemies because of that. Mainly bad people who had it coming. Cop's don't really care about them, so I'm not surprised you didn't hear me"

"You know how to lift a mood, eh?" Joker deadpanned, I don't think any of them have touched their food since I got here.

"Yup" I said, getting up, "I'll talk to you later, need to get a workout in today, and maybe a snack for the road."

"Do you mind turning that down?" I glance to my side and see Shepard, in her workout gear, drenched in sweat. I quickly pause the game I was playing and turn down my music. "That's really offensive music"

"It's rap from the 21st century, I'm not surprised you find it offensive"

"You don't?" she questioned

"Words can hurt you only if you let them" I said, getting a confused look from her, "Jane, you're fat" and she just looked at me with skepticism. "See, words can only hurt if you let them" I said, returning to my music, much lower than before. I continue back to my game, "What brings you down here?"

"Work out, what are you playing?"

"No idea, Garrus was playing earlier, and I just picked it up after him. Some zombie game taking place on the citadel, it's pretty good"

"And what time was that?" she asked

"Around 7 I think"

"It's 3 in the morning" she claimed, and I looked at my omnitool, and it corroborated her story.

"So, I pulled an all nighter, wanna play?" I asked, handing her a second controller, she grabbed it and sat on the couch with me. "Damn" I said, rubbing my nose.

"Maybe I'll take a shower first" She said, jumping up and making a run for the elevator. "Yeah, maybe."

"You forgetting something?" I jumped up next to the airlock, looking around and seeing Joker at the cockpit.

"No?" I asked

"I'm pretty sure Shepard said that if you're alone to go out in armor" he said

"And why aren't you out?"

"I'm going out for drinks later tonight with a couple people from the ground team later, you're welcome to come" he claimed

"If I'm not busy, I'll swing by" I said walking into the airlock, "And what Shepard doesn't know, doesn't hurt her"

"And if you run into her?"

"Then it's my problem" I said, hitting the button, closing the airlock. I quickly leave the docks, hitching a ride on an air car. I make my way down to a sketchy looking part of Zakera ward. I ring the door of the building I want to enter.

"Who is it?" the voice asked

"Who do you think, Vaelorn?" I asked, knowing I'm the only person who comes here

"Ah, one of my best customers, come on in" and the door opened, revealing an elevator that goes to the top floor. This is Ubirn Vaelorn, he's a private engineer that does high quality, custom made, next level stuff. He's very expensive, and I'm his busiest customer, if not one of his only.

"Vaelorn" I said, walking into his workshop. "I'm pretty sure I'm the only person who comes here, when are you just going to give me a key?"

"And if you interrupt me when I'm entertaining a lady?"

"Let's be serious" I said, and he just smiled, "Is my sword ready?"

"Yes, it's right next to the door. I'll also have a crate of those explosives you love so much sent to the Normandy, along with a spare sword"

"Great, how about the-"

"Chase" he interrupted me, turning to face me, "That device you want me to make will take time, and it's not a matter of funds either. While I'm making progress, I'm still two years away from a prototype, at least."

"Fine" I muttered, "But I need it by then, even if it's the prototype"

"Understood, now leave please. I have lots of work to do" he said, turning to something on his work bench, I go to leave, grabbing my sword on the way out. I make for the sky car, punching in the spot for my favorite store on the Citadel.

"Gerry!" I yelled, walking in.

"Chase, didn't think I'd be seeing you so soon, and Congratulations! I can't believe I have one of the first spectre's as a client"

"Thankyou" I said, looking at the whiskeys, "I'll need one bottle, same ship"

"Of course," he said, grabbing one, "Would you like one for the road?" he asked, waving towards the cigars. I quickly nod, take the cigar, and make my way down to the presidium, to enjoy the views. I wanted to light this thing in the skycar, but if the things even detect smoke, they will pull over and eject you, and I'm speaking from experience. Once I get to the presidium, I take up a bench at the edge of a park, facing a bunch of restaurants, perfect for people watching.

"You can't smoke that here" I heard a voice, and it's some redheaded chick walking towards me.

"Yes, I can"

"No, there's no smoking on the presidium"

"I have a special license" I claimed

"And what's that?"

"Listen" I started, "What's your name?"

"None of your business, and you know that those will kill you"

"Okay kid, first, I'm a spectre, so I can do whatever I want. Secondly, I will die from combat long before lung cancer, or anything like it. Third, you're really starting to piss me off, so please leave me alone."

"Kid?"

"That's what you got from that?" I asked, and she just nodded. "You're not very bright, and I probably got a decade on you, so yes, you're a kid to me."

"What's it like to be a spectre?" she asked, twisting her hair. Oh god, is this going to be my Conrad Verner?

"Pretty much the same, just can't be arrested now" I claimed, taking a quick drag.

"You mind if I quote that?" she asked, pulling out her omnitool

"Are you a reporter?"

"Yes, so, does one of Humanity's first spectre have a special someone?" she asked, "This is Aliance News Network by the way"

"No, and that's all"

"What about the rumors?" she asked, which actually piqued my interest

"Rumors?"

"Rumors of a relation between you and humanity's first spectre, Commander Shepard" she claimed, and I just busted out laughing. It actually took me a minute to calm down before I could talk clearly without giggling.

"Me and Jane?" I asked, "that's rich" I claimed, getting a look from her. "Well, I can assure you she's not into me, she can do better"

"So, does that mean you're into her?" she asked, fuck, trapped in a corner.

"Well, I'm a straight guy, so obviously I find her attractive. Other than that, it's none of your damn business" I said, taking another long draw.

"What do you mean by 'she can do better'?" she asked

"I'm not exactly a saint with a spotless history, and that's all for this impromptu interview, goodbye" I said, shooing her away with my hand

"Eden, our table's ready" I heard from behind her, I lean over and see Shepard

"Shepard?"

"Chase? What are you doing over here?" she asked

"I was people watching, until I started to get harassed by this reporter"

"Eden's not a reporter" she claimed, and I could just see a large grin on her sister's face

"This whole family is just whack" I muttered, and Eden just busted out for laughing, "So you just wanted info out of me?" I asked, getting a quick nod

"Want to join us?" she asked

"No. I'll pass, I'm not hungry. And I don't trust you right now" I said to Eden, "You going to drinks tonight? I heard most of the ground crew is going?" I asked Shepard

"Yeah, I'll swing by" she said, and I get up and put out the bud of my cigar

"I'll see you then, Eden, nice to meet you" I claimed walking away, and once she thought I was out of ear shot I could hear her questioning Eden on what just happened. Her sister's a little prying ninja is what just happened.


End file.
